Shooters with semi-automatics hit twice as many people, study finds

CHICAGO — Active shooters with semi-automatic rifles wound and kill twice as many people as those using non-automatic weapons, although chances of dying if hit in either type of assault are the same, a new analysis shows.

Researchers examined FBI data on nearly 250 active-shooter incidents in the U.S. since 2000. Almost 900 people were wounded and 718 were killed.

One in four of these attacks involved semi-automatic rifles. These weapons automatically load each bullet after firing, although firing requires pulling the trigger for each round.

Recent attacks involving semiautomatics include the shootings at Parkland High School, Orlando’s Pulse night club and Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The average number of people wounded in semi-automatic attacks totalled nearly six, versus about three in attacks with a nonautomatic weapon.

Roughly four people were killed on average in semi-automatic attacks, compared with about two in other attacks, the study found.

The results were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Lead researcher Dr. Adil Haider, a trauma surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said the study highlights a need to better track details on types of weapons used in active shooter attacks.