WASHINGTON — The U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center published "Preventing Targeted Workplace Violence: A U.S. Secret Service Guide to Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management" on October 21, 2026. The guide outlines an 8-step framework for organizations to implement behavioral threat assessment and management programs.

Dr. Lina Alathari, Chief of the National Threat Assessment Center, said, "Targeted workplace violence is a significant and persistent challenge, harming tens of thousands of people and impacting numerous organizations and communities across the nation each year." The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 928 worker deaths from intentional homicides between 2023 and 2024. Primary source: secretservice.gov

The new guide analyzes 50 incidents of mass violence that occurred on the premises of a business or other work location, each resulting in harm to three or more people not including the attackers. In each of the 50 incidents, the attackers were known or knowable to the workplace prior to their attacks. All but one of the incidents were perpetrated by a single attacker, and nearly all attackers were male (49 of 50, or 96%).

Retail and service outlets were the most frequently impacted location type, accounting for 14 incidents (28%), while healthcare settings accounted for 7 incidents (14%). Handguns were used in 33 attacks and long guns were used in 10 attacks, while bladed weapons were used in 7 attacks (14%). All attacks using bladed weapons were perpetrated by customers, clients, patients, or visitors of the targeted location.

In 38 of the 50 attacks (76%), attackers stopped causing harm on their own, while law enforcement intervened to stop the attacker in 9 incidents (18%). Workplace attacks ended with the attacker’s suicide at a rate of 46%, compared to 16% in non-workplace related mass violence incidents examined in the 2023 report.

47 of the 50 attackers (92%) experienced life stressors within five years of their attack. Financial difficulties were a stressor for 28 attackers (55%), problems in personal lives were a stressor for 24 attackers (47%), and employment-related issues were a stressor for 23 attackers (45%).

40 of the 50 attackers (78%) exhibited behaviors that elicited concern in others, and 31 of the 50 attackers (61%) exhibited behaviors that caused observers to fear for the safety of the attacker or others. Additionally, 32 of the 50 attackers (65%) had prior criminal charges and 26 of the 50 attackers (53%) had at least one instance of domestic violence in their past.

16 of the attackers were actively employed by the location they targeted at the time of their attack, and 13 of those 16 initiated their attack during or immediately after a work shift. The ages of the attackers ranged from 22 to 66 years old, with an average age of 41.

The guide defines targeted workplace violence as a premeditated act of violence perpetrated at a workplace, directed at a specific individual, group, or location, regardless of motivation and generally unrelated to other criminal activity. It combines new findings from research on mass attacks impacting workplaces with operational guidance for implementing behavioral threat assessment and management programs.

Why It Matters

This publication builds on previous Secret Service analysis, including the 2023 report "Mass Attacks in Public Spaces: 2016 – 2020," which examined 173 acts of mass violence and found that businesses were the most frequent type of location impacted.