On the same day that a 24-year-old Kuwaiti-American named Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez apparently killed four Marines in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a jury in Colorado convicted James Holmes, now 27, of the murder of 12 people in an Aurora movie theater in July 2012. Such incidents are, sadly, not nearly uncommon enough. According to a USA Today tally, 387 people have been murdered in 78 mass killings since Holmes' attack on defenseless people trying to peacefully watch a Batman movie; 119 of the victims were children.
USA Today defines mass killings as those with at least four victims, not counting the attacker. One such attack has taken place about every two weeks in the U.S. since the newspaper began keeping track in 2006. The most recent number, 387, includes Thursday's Chattanooga killings — plus 14 other massing killings this year — and 63 or the 78 tallied mass killings involved guns, usually handguns. Read more about the grim numbers at USA Today.
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.
-
Why ‘anti-Islam’ bikers are guarding Gaza aid sitesIn The Spotlight Members of Infidels MC, who regard themselves as modern Crusaders, among private security guards at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites
-
China: Xi seeks to fill America’s voidFeature Trump’s tariffs are pushing nations eastward as Xi Jinping focuses on strengthening ties with global leaders
-
Rebrands: Bringing back the War DepartmentFeature Trump revives the Department of Defense’s former name
-
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
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bailSpeed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambushSpeed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrialSpeed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside homespeed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confessionspeed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulderspeed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
