U.S. Sets Record for Most Mass Shootings in a Single Year

Immediately after an extensive number of murders over the weekend, the U.S. set a graphic new record for the most mass shootings ever reported in a single year.

The 37th and 38th mass shootings of the year took place on Sunday, two of which happened in Texas and Washington state within a few hours of one another. In Vancouver, a suburb of Portland, Oregon, just across the border in Washington, authorities suspect a murder-suicide claimed the lives of five family members. At the same time, in Dallas, a 21-year-old with a prior aggravated assault charge shot five people in a residence, including a youngster.

It surpasses the previous record of 36 mass shootings set last year and is the most in any year since at least 2006.

A 38-year-old guy stabbed four of his family, including two children, as well as a lady and two police officers, before they shot him. That was the 41st mass murder in the nation in 2023, an Associated Press database indicates.

In mass killings, which are defined as occurrences in which four or more people die, not including the killer, at least 203 people have died this year. The FBI defines it similarly.

According to the Washington Post, at least 26 of the 38 mass shootings this year have taken place in private homes or shelters, despite the attention they receive from the media.

Mass shootings and homicides are counted differently by various groups. Some, like the Gun Violence Archive, give far higher numbers since they include incidents in which numerous people are shot, regardless of the total number of deaths. Six hundred thirty mass shootings took place so far this year.

During the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, the number of mass shooting deaths decreased to 21; nevertheless, they have subsequently increased to a new record.

Sixteen shootings throughout the extended Fourth of July holiday left 15 people dead and nearly 100 injured.

However, the bloodiest attack of 2023 took place in Lewiston, Maine, on October 25, when a reservist army killed eighteen people in a bar and bowling alley. The worst incident of the year had previously occurred in January in Monterey Park, California, during a Lunar New Year party, when a man shot 11 people with a semi-automatic weapon.