US hits grim milestone as it breaks record for most mass shootings in a year

Different groups count mass shootings and killings in different ways with some groups simply including incidents in which multiple people are shot regardless of the number of deaths.

According to the FBI, mass shootings are defined as incidents in which one or more individuals “actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area. Implicit in this definition is the shooter’s use of a firearm.”

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Although the FBI does not outline the minimum number of casualties to qualify as a mass shooting, US statute defines a “mass killing” as when four or more people have died excluding the killer.

On Sunday, a 21-year-old shot five people in a house including a toddler in Texas.

And in Portland, Oregon, five members of a family were killed in what authorities are describing as a murder-suicide.

According to AP, this new total of 38 mass shootings is the largest recorded (at least since 2006 when they began records) breaking the previous record of 36 reached last year.

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Shootings have made up 92 per cent of mass killings this year with there being a recorded 41 mass killings this year.

At least 203 people have died so far in mass killings in 2023.

Despite public perception of mass shootings occurring in public spaces, analysis by the Washington Post found most mass shootings happen in private settings.

According to the Post, at least 26 of this year’s 38 shootings happened in private homes or shelters.

Mass shooting numbers hit record lows during the 2020 pandemic, reaching only 21 that year.

However, since then, numbers have rebounded to record levels.

The deadliest mass shooting this year occurred in Lewiston, Maine on October 25 when an army reservist murdered 18 people at a bowling alley and later a bar.