As the search continues for Robert Card, the man who is accused of killing at least 18 people and injuring 13 more on Wednesday night, the spotlight is once again being shown on gun violence in America.
What is considered a mass shooting?
There is no exact definition of a mass shooting, but the benchmark many people use, including the website Gun Violence Archive, is an incident in which at least four people are shot. They could be injured or killed.
The Department of Justice also says that the FBI defines a “mass shooting” as “any incident in which at least four people are murdered with a gun.”
A mass killing, according to the U.S. Code that provides for federal law enforcement assistance of crimes, is three or more people killed, no matter what weapon was used.
The suspect, if killed or wounded, is not typically counted among the victims.
Is a mass shooting done by a single person or a group?
A mass shooting can be done by either a lone gunman or a group of people.
How many people have been killed in mass shootings?
According to Every Town Research, whose data was shared by the DOJ, 636 people were killed in a mass shooting in 2022. The highest number of people killed happened in 2021, with the deaths of 686 people.
The Gun Violence Archive has a slightly different number for 2021 — 688 — but that year still had the highest number of mass shooting deaths in recent years.
From 2015 to 2022, there had been more than 19,000 people shot and 3,708 people killed over those seven years.
From January 2009 through 2013, there had been 56 mass shootings in 30 states, the DOJ and Mayors Against Illegal Guns said.
How many mass shootings/mass killings have happened in 2023?
The number of mass shootings differs depending on what organization is reporting the number and if they categorize it as a shooting or a killing.
CNN reported that, according to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 565 mass shootings in 2023.
The year started with mass shootings — with four or more victims — on Jan. 1, with six shootings in five states: Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to the archive. In those incidents, three people died, and 29 were wounded. of those shootings, only one had someone arrested — the first shooting that occurred in Columbus, Ohio, where one person was killed, four were wounded and two people were eventually in police custody. The archive said the shooting stemmed from an “escalated argument.”
However, The Associated Press and USA Today maintain their own database with Northeastern University and said that there have been 36 mass killings. At least 188 people have died. The research uses the same FBI definition that four or more people dying in a 24-hour period, not including the person who pulled the trigger.
