Mass shootings in the United States have become more common and more deadly than ever before and unfortunately, public spaces and schools have become the target for disgruntled shooters. Public interest in these tragedies has also increased, with endless reports on every detail of the incident, including a deep dive into the shooter's life.

As history and statistics tell us, the profile of a person who carries out these types of crimes is almost always the same: a young male. But what happens when the crime doesn't fit the profile and the assumptions we make are completely wrong? That was the case when a woman opened fire outside the San Bruno YouTube headquarters, leaving police confused on a motive and starting a bigger conversation of what could drive someone to commit this crime.

What happened?

The shooting took place at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California. Three people were shot and were taken to the hospital with non-fatal injuries. The suspect was identified as a San Diego local, Nasim Najafi Aghdam, reports say, she shot and killed herself before police found her. The 39-year-old had spoken out against the company's policies, saying they were unfair, after ads appearing in her videos were taken down. She had some following on her YouTube channel and was a frequent poster.

He videos were mainly about veganism and were sometimes political. At first, officers reported that the shooting was caused because of a domestic dispute, but later found out Aghdam had no connection to any of the victims and was shooting at random. Her family has also said that they were worried she would take action against YouTube after the ads in her videos were taken down. These details about her life and possible motive puzzled investigators and the public because her profile did not fit the "usual suspect."

Why is it different?

The details and the facts of this shooting are different than what we've seen in the past. For starters, we rarely see a female shooter. Studies show that out of all the "active shooter" incidents in the United States since the 1960s, only eight cases involved a female. Scientists even say that female mass killers are so rare that the phenomenon hasn't even been completely studied.

In this case, police first reported that the shooting at YouTube headquarters was a result of a domestic dispute, but later found out Aghdam was shooting at random people. That's another factor in this shooting that makes it stand out. Research shows that when women become violent or homicidal, there tends to be a connection to a domestic dispute — it's rarely at random.

The fact that police believed it was a domestic dispute says a lot. If you think back to when you first heard about the shooting, it's safe to say you didn't picture a woman, let alone a vegan who had a long history of protesting against animal cruelty. If we look at reports on this incident, most headlines did not focus on the damage she caused, but about the fact that she was a woman.

Police even talked to Aghdam the night before the shooting and said they found nothing alarming about her demeanor. Early the next morning she visited a gun range and by the afternoon she was at YouTube headquarters, shooting at random.

To me, the assumptions officers made before finding out it wasn't a domestic dispute, and how police found nothing alarming while speaking to her the night before, open up a conversation about why women don't commit these crimes and why people picture the same person every time we hear about a shooting.

Why does it matter?

Unfortunately, many people have become desensitized when it comes to an "active shooter" situation. For the past several years, random acts of violence have dominated the airways, with almost the same narratives. An angry male taking action into their own hands because they believe certain groups of people haven't given them their due.

Even some San Diego personal injury lawyers have reported seeing more lawsuits regarding shootings than ever before, to the point where special practice areas to protect victims could become the norm at law offices. The details on this recent shooting open up bigger issues and conversations on why more men commit these type of crimes and their motives.

While female killers do exist, they tend to choose other ways of committing crimes. In regard to shootings, some theories say the importance society puts on male aggression and hyper-masculinity might be a small answer as to why we see these statistics. Those types of theories are nothing new, one article published by politico just last year claims, we shouldn't blame gun violence on mental illness, but instead, blame masculinity — one sociologist quoted in the article says, men tend to "externalize" blame and frustration through acts of aggression, where women tend to internalize their stress.

We will never know exactly what Aghdam wanted out of this crime. Unlike other shooters, she did not fit the "pseudo commando" persona, the ones who post pictures with weapons on websites, or pose with belts of ammo, showing off a narcissistic, angry, powerful and vengeful profile.

Regardless of whether you agree with these theories, or what your stance is on gun violence, I think it's important to take a look at these incidents and recognize patterns. Our generation has seen some of the most tragic random acts of violence, and we can't just turn a blind eye and not question why it's happening.

With all the information that is thrown in front of us every day, whether it's social media, news articles or ads, it's important to decipher what we should pay attention to. The time is now to question and to inform ourselves as much as possible — it's our future, after all.