Two Massive Studies Show SSRIs Increase Homicidal Behavior & Violent Crime

As autistic transgender school shooters multiply, RFK Jr. is probing whether SSRIs — used by ~40% of trans individuals — are fueling the bloodshed.

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

A few days ago, transgender mass shooter Robin Westman killed two children and wounded 17 others before committing suicide.

This comes after Audrey Hale’s massacre, the transgender school shooter who murdered six people at Nashville’s Convent School in 2023.

Here it’s important to note that approximately 40% of transgender individuals take selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) as a form of antidepressant.

Now, RFK Jr. revealed he has ordered an investigation into whether the pharmaceutical drugs such individuals take during transition — particularly SSRIs — could have played a role in the depraved violence:

“Some of the SSRI drugs and some other psychiatric drugs might be contributing to violence,” Kennedy warned.
“Many of them have black-box warnings for suicidal ideation and homicidal ideation. We can’t exclude those as a culprit.”

However, scientific evidence already exists linking SSRIs to violent crime and homicidal behavior:

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Lagerberg et al. (2020)

785,000+ SSRI users, ages 15–60 (Swedish national registry)

• People on SSRIs were 26% more likely to commit violent crime compared to when they were off medication (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.19–1.34).

• Risk was especially high in young adults (15–34 years) — with increases of 28% in 15–24-year-olds and 35% in 25–34-year-olds (HRs 1.28 and 1.35).

• Crucially, the danger persisted after stopping: the risk of violent crime was still 37% higher within the first 4 weeks post-discontinuation, and 20% higher up to 12 weeks later.

Translation: SSRI treatment doesn’t just raise the risk of violence while on the drug — the elevated danger continues for months after patients stop taking it.

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Molero et al. (2015)

856,000+ individuals prescribed SSRIs (Swedish national registry)

• Young users (15–24 years) had a 43% higher risk of violent crime convictions (HR 1.43, 95% CI 1.19–1.73).

• Risks extended well beyond violent crime:

  • 29% higher risk of accidents (HR 1.29)

  • 98% higher risk of alcohol-related hospital visits (HR 1.98)

• Gender breakdown among 15–24 year-olds:

  • Young men: 40% higher risk of violent crime (HR 1.40)

  • Young women: 75% higher risk of violent crime (HR 1.75)

Translation: The association isn’t random. It shows up across multiple types of dangerous outcomes, with both young men and women disproportionately affected.

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These studies, each based on nationwide registry data, converge on the same alarming conclusion: SSRIs are associated with violent crime in young people.

The problem compounds in vulnerable groups. Nearly half of all transgender youth may be autistic (Tollit et al), yet they are routinely placed on psychiatric drugs and funneled into irreversible surgical procedures. Long-term data show that sex-reassigned individuals face triple the overall mortality and a 19-fold higher suicide risk (Dhejne et al).

If we’re serious about stopping mass shootings, we can no longer ignore the role of psychiatric drugs — or the dangerous policies that push vulnerable, often autistic youth into irreversible hormonal and surgical mutilation procedures.

As Minneapolis school shooter Robin Westman confessed in a manifesto: he was “tired of being trans” and wished he “never brain-washed” himself.

Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Epidemiologist and Foundation Administrator, McCullough Foundation

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