An acceleration of mass shootings. More public mass killings. More than 200 people across the nation shot on the Fourth of July.
The United States frequently reaches horrific new highs of the gun violence epidemic. The latest way: A deadly six months in what figures to be the most mass killings in a year.
There have been 30 mass killings in 2023 — more at this point in the year than any other since at least 2006, according to the USA TODAY/Northeastern University/Associated Press Mass Killings Database. A mass killing is defined as four or more people killed, not including the perpetrator. Of those 30 mass killings, 29 involved a gun.
The incidents this year have left nearly 150 people dead and more than 70 injured. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
“The bad year continues,” said James Alan Fox, a professor at Northeastern University who has studied mass killings for 40 years. “If the second half of the year is anything like the first half, this will be a high watermark.”
Here’s what to know about mass killings and shootings in the United States in 2023.
How many mass killings in 2023?
The United States typically witnesses dozens of mass killings a year. The incidents are typically shootings and often taken place in private spaces, such as inside homes.
Of the mass killings this year, 29 were shootings, and one was arson, said Fox, who oversees the Mass Killings Database. There’s a possible additional mass killing under investigation in Green Pond, South Carolina, in what could be a case of stabbing and arson, he said.
“We’re waiting for the coroner’s report,” Fox said.
Of those mass killings, eight happened in public places. The attacks — all shootings — left 50 people dead and 60 injured, according to the database.
The nation typically sees six public mass shootings annually, and the most the country has ever witnessed was nine in a year, Fox said.
“We’re one below the total year number maximum, and we’re only halfway through,” Fox said.
The incidents included a mass shooting at a bank in Louisville, at a “Sweet 16” birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama, and outside an outlet mass in Allen, Texas, among others in Arizona, California, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
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How many mass shootings in 2023?
Many more people are injured in mass shootings each year. The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit publicly sourced database, defines a mass shooting as at least four people struck by gunfire, not including the shooter.
This year, there have been at least 377 mass shootings across the nation, leaving more than 400 people dead and more than 1,500 injured, according to the archive.
Mass shootings have happened in nearly every state, according to the database. Only ten have not witnessed a mass shooting: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Mark Bryant, executive director of the Gun Violence Archive, said the nation in 2021 saw the highest number of mass shootings in a single year, when there were 690 incidents. On July 14 that year, the nation had witnessed 354 mass shootings.
“That does not bode well,” Bryant said.
Mass killings are on a similar trend: The nation saw the highest number of mass killings in 2019, when there were 46 incidents. On July 14 of that year, the nation had witnessed 25 mass killings.
The figures come as the United States in averaging approximately 104 gun injuries each day, the archive found.
Unclear if trends will continue
It’s unclear if the trends seen in the first half of the year will continue throughout 2023, Fox said.
Last fall, the nation saw a “tremendous” number of mass killings in October and November — more over a period of six weeks than ever before, Fox said. But there were none in December of that year, he said.
“We have seen situations where there’s been welcome lows,” Fox said.
