Mass shootings so far this year almost reach 2018 levels
SEATTLE—Just seven months into 2019, the U.S. has experienced almost as many mass killings as occurred in all of 2018.
Back-to-back mass shootings in Texas and Ohio brought the total number of mass killing ss of ar this year to 23, leaving 131 people dead. There were 25 mass killings in 2018, claiming 140 lives, according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, Northeastern University and USA Today.
The database tracks every mass killing dating back to 2006, and the El Paso and Dayton massacres had traits that were similar to many earlier incidents. That includes shooting a family member while carrying out a mass kill i ng, which happened in Dayton; the young age of the perpetrators; and the tendency of the shooters to commit suicide or get killed by police.
Here are some takeaways:
Overall numbers
The last three years have seen several fluctuations in mass killing numbers. In 2017, 225 people died in 32 mass killings, driven by the massacre in Las Vegas. In 2018, the year was marked by a surge in mass killings in public places, including schools in Texas and Florida.
A typical year has roughly 29 mass killings.
Mass killing s—defined as killings involving four or more fatalities, not including the killer — have occurred in 16 states this year. California has experienced four of them.
Family members killed
The majority of mass killings involve domestic violence, and eight of 74 public mass shootings since 2006 involved the killing of a blood relative, the data shows. The shooter's parent, sibling, cousin, nephew or niece was shot first and then the perpetrator sought out others to kill.
“They'll take it out on family and then society, figuring they already committed a murder,” said David Chipman, a former agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who now works as a policy adviser at Giffords: Courage to =Fight Gun Violence. “Domestic violence is the most risky call for service that police go on.”
Before 20-year-old Adam L an zak ill ed 26 children and staff at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, he had fatally shot his mother in their Newtown, Connecticut home.
Jaylen Fryberg, 15, sent text messages to lure two cousins and several friends to the cafeteria at Marysville Pilchuck High School in Marys ville, Washington, in 2014. He then shot the four students before turning the gun on himself.
And last month, police say a man in Southern California began his rampage by killing and injuring family members before shooting strangers. In the end, he is accused of killing four people.