WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Following Wednesday's mass shooting in Maine that claimed at least 18 lives, there are many unanswered questions.
WPTV spoke with South Florida experts in the wake of the violence to get their thoughts on the latest tragedy to impact a community in America.
The big question is: why?
"That's the one thing everybody wants an answer to," Alexis Piquero, a criminologist at the University of Miami, said. "There are two things common to all of these cases. There is an individual who has nefarious intentions and second that individual has access to a weapon that can kill a lot of people very quickly."
Piquero said law enforcement from the FBI to local police in Lewiston, Maine, are looking for any clues on the shooter's motive, starting with any history of mental illness.
"Most people who have mental health issues don't do what this individual did, and we don't want to stigmatize those individuals who have mental health problems who are going to seek help," he said.
He said investigators will take a deep dive into the gunman's social media posts and interactions with family and friends.
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As for the manhunt, local former FBI Special Agent Stuart Kaplan said federal agents jump into what's known as a rapid response.
"The FBI comes in because the FBI has certain assets and tools that are not necessarily available on the state and local level," Kaplan said.
Those assets include the technology to extract cellphone and banking records and equipment to help in the manhunt.
"If something just happened to set him off, and I call it spontaneous combustion," Kaplan says referring to the shooter, "and he's without a plan. He may just go into the woods out of desperation."
