FBI: Mass shootings on the rise in America
The frequency of active shooter incidents in the U.S. has risen markedly in recent years, according to an FBI report released Wednesday.
The study identified 160 "active shooter" incidents from 2000 to 2013. (Per the FBI, an active shooter is defined as "an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area.") In those 160 incidents, gunmen killed 486 people and injured another 557.
More shocking than the sheer carnage, though, is that the rate of shootings has spiked. There were an annual average of 6.4 active shooter incidents in the first seven years of the study; that average leapt to 16.4 per year over the last seven years of the study.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"The findings establish an increasing frequency of incidents annually," the report concludes, adding that the trend "reinforces the need to remain vigilant regarding prevention efforts and for law enforcement to aggressively train to better respond to — and help communities recover from — active shooter incidents."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
-
Embrace the Boricua spirit on a foodie tour of Puerto RicoThe Week Recommends From cultural food tours to organic farms, there is plenty to discover around the island
-
The longest US government shutdown in historyThe Explainer Federal employees and low-income households have been particularly affected by ‘partisan standoffs’ in Washington
-
Jeremy Hunt picks his favourite booksThe Week Recommends The former chancellor shares works by Mishal Husain, Keach Hagey, and Johan Norberg
-
France makes first arrests in Louvre jewels heistSpeed Read Two suspects were arrested in connection with the daytime theft of royal jewels from the museum
-
Trump pardons crypto titan who enriched familySpeed Read Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering while CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange
-
Thieves nab French crown jewels from LouvreSpeed Read A gang of thieves stole 19th century royal jewels from the Paris museum’s Galerie d’Apollon
-
Arsonist who attacked Shapiro gets 25-50 yearsSpeed Read Cody Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and tried to burn it down
-
Man charged over LA’s deadly Palisades Firespeed read 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht has been arrested in connection with the fire that killed 12 people
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan churchSpeed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
3 officers killed in Pennsylvania shootingSpeed Read Police did not share the identities of the officers or the slain suspect, nor the motive or the focus of the still-active investigation
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school massSpeed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
