Random Shootings

I'm not sure what the deal is with the northwest corner of our country (US). Is it because people are amped up on caffeine as a rule? Is it the depressing weather? Whatever the case, I'm about fed up with all of the random murders around here--20 and counting in the last two years, the two most recent taking place this weekend.
Even though I usually carry concealed, looking at most of these cases, I hazard to guess that even someone who carries would, in most of these case, have been shot out of the blue with no forewarning at all. In one case, a family was getting ready for Christmas when another family member came over and killed all six people in the house. In another case, a group of young adults came back to one guys house to chill after a rave party at around 6am and someone they didn't even know followed them home and killed all six people. In another recent case, a mentally ill man killed a sheriff's deputy, two road workers as he drove by them, and three others. In this weekend's case, a man killed a forest service officer, then randomly stopped by a house, killed a man who was working in his yard, and stole his truck.
At least if you are in a war zone, you are looking for something to happen. In the aforementioned cases, the shootings were truly random, no previous altercations took place to put the victims on alert that something could happen, and one minute the person was chatting with friends or family, working in their yard, or fixing the road, and the next they were dead. The two law enforcement officers were even taken by surprise and killed without getting off a shot.
Wanting to post useful information, more specifically, provide info that could help you prepare and survive such an attack, I researched the topic and came up with exactly nothing. No tips, no best practices, no "do this" kind of information. Having no experience with this subject, here's what I think in general:

• Concealed carry makes sense. In mass shootings, if you are carrying concealed and aren't the first victim, you may have the opportunity to fire back.
• In almost all of these cases, the perpetrator was mentally ill which speaks to the need for services (and facilities!) for the mentally ill.
• Limiting gun ownership and creating "gun free zones" seem to be diametrically opposed to to public safety. It's like putting an arrow up for people who want to find locations where no one would shoot back at them. Yikes.
• It speaks to the need to find the line between being paranoid/defensive and being aware/cautious in our daily lives.