THIS DATASET WAS LAST UPDATED AT 8:10 PM EASTERN ON MARCH 24

OVERVIEW

2019 had the most mass killings since at least the 1970s, according to the Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Killings Database.

In all, there were 45 mass killings, defined as when four or more people are killed excluding the perpetrator. Of those, 33 were mass shootings . This summer was especially violent, with three high-profile public mass shootings occurring in the span of just four weeks, leaving 38 killed and 66 injured.

A total of 229 people died in mass killings in 2019.

The AP's analysis found that more than 50% of the incidents were family annihilations, which is similar to prior years. Although they are far less common, the 9 public mass shootings during the year were the most deadly type of mass murder, resulting in 73 people's deaths, not including the assailants.

One-third of the offenders died at the scene of the killing or soon after, half from suicides.

About this Dataset

The Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Killings database tracks all U.S. homicides since 2006 involving four or more people killed (not including the offender) over a short period of time (24 hours) regardless of weapon, location, victim-offender relationship or motive. The database includes information on these and other characteristics concerning the incidents, offenders, and victims.

The AP/USA TODAY/Northeastern database represents the most complete tracking of mass murders by the above definition currently available. Other efforts, such as the Gun Violence Archive or Everytown for Gun Safety may include events that do not meet our criteria, but a review of these sites and others indicates that this database contains every event that matches the definition, including some not tracked by other organizations.

This data will be updated periodically and can be used as an ongoing resource to help cover these events.

Using this Dataset

To get basic counts of incidents of mass killings and mass shootings by year nationwide, use these queries:

Mass killings by year

Mass shootings by year

To get these counts just for your state:

Filter killings by state

Definition of "mass murder"

Mass murder is defined as the intentional killing of four or more victims by any means within a 24-hour period, excluding the deaths of unborn children and the offender(s). The standard of four or more dead was initially set by the FBI.

This definition does not exclude cases based on method (e.g., shootings only), type or motivation (e.g., public only), victim-offender relationship (e.g., strangers only), or number of locations (e.g., one). The time frame of 24 hours was chosen to eliminate conflation with spree killers, who kill multiple victims in quick succession in different locations or incidents, and to satisfy the traditional requirement of occurring in a “single incident.”

Offenders who commit mass murder during a spree (before or after committing additional homicides) are included in the database, and all victims within seven days of the mass murder are included in the victim count. Negligent homicides related to driving under the influence or accidental fires are excluded due to the lack of offender intent. Only incidents occurring within the 50 states and Washington D.C. are considered.

Methodology

Project researchers first identified potential incidents using the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR). Homicide incidents in the SHR were flagged as potential mass murder cases if four or more victims were reported on the same record, and the type of death was murder or non-negligent manslaughter.

Cases were subsequently verified utilizing media accounts, court documents, academic journal articles, books, and local law enforcement records obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Each data point was corroborated by multiple sources, which were compiled into a single document to assess the quality of information.

In case(s) of contradiction among sources, official law enforcement or court records were used, when available, followed by the most recent media or academic source.

Case information was subsequently compared with every other known mass murder database to ensure reliability and validity. Incidents listed in the SHR that could not be independently verified were excluded from the database.

Project researchers also conducted extensive searches for incidents not reported in the SHR during the time period, utilizing internet search engines, Lexis-Nexis, and Newspapers.com. Search terms include: [number] dead, [number] killed, [number] slain, [number] murdered, [number] homicide, mass murder, mass shooting, massacre, rampage, family killing, familicide, and arson murder. Offender, victim, and location names were also directly searched when available.

This project started at USA TODAY in 2012.

Contacts

Contact AP Data Editor Justin Myers with questions, suggestions or comments about this dataset at jmyers@ap.org. The Northeastern University researcher working with AP and USA TODAY is Professor James Alan Fox, who can be reached at j.fox@northeastern.edu or 617-416-4400.

Number and percentage of homicide victims, by type of firearm used to commit the homicide (total firearms; handgun; rifle or shotgun; other firearm-like weapons; firearm, type of firearm is unknown), Canada, 1974 to 2023.

In 2023, 13,529 recorded murders in the United States were committed by firearm. This is a decrease from the previous year, when 12,244 homicides were committed with a firearm in the country. However, figures may not accurately reflect the total number of homicides, as not all law enforcement agencies in the U.S. submitted homicide data.

Note: This Dataset is updated nightly and contains all downloadable Medical Examiner-Coroner records, January 1, 2018 to current, related to deaths that occurred in the County of Santa Clara under the Medical Examiner-Coroner’s jurisdiction and those deaths reportable to the Medical Examiner-Coroner (non-jurisdictional cases/NJA) but in which the office did not assume jurisdiction.

The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner- Coroner’s Office determines cause and manner of death for those deaths that fall under the jurisdiction of the Medical Examiner-Coroner, as defined by California Government code 27491.

The Medical Examiner-Coroner will not be responsible for data verification, interpretation or misinformation once data has been downloaded and manipulated from the dashboard.

Refer to the following document to know more of which deaths are reportable: https://medicalexaminer.sccgov.org/sites/g/files/exjcpb986/files/Reportable%20Death%20Chart%202018.pdf.

Number of homicide victims, by method used to commit the homicide (total methods used; shooting; stabbing; beating; strangulation; fire (burns or suffocation); other methods used; methods used unknown), Canada, 1974 to 2023.

In recent years, gun violence in the United States has become an alarmingly common occurrence. From 2016, there has been over 10,000 homicides by firearm in the U.S. each year and firearms have been found to make up the majority of murder weapons in the country by far, demonstrating increasing rates of gun violence occurring throughout the nation. As of 2025, Mississippi was the state with the highest gun violence rate per 100,000 residents in the United States, at 29.4 percent, followed by Louisiana, at 28.1 percent. In comparison, Massachusetts had a gun violence rate of 3.7 percent, the lowest out of all the states. The importance of gun laws Gun laws in the United States vary from state to state, which has been found to affect the differing rates of gun violence throughout the country. Fewer people die by gun violence in states where gun safety laws have been passed, while gun violence rates remain high in states where gun usage is easily permitted and even encouraged. In addition, some states suffer from high rates of gun violence despite having strong gun safety laws due to gun trafficking, as traffickers can distribute firearms illegally past state lines. The right to bear arms Despite evidence from other countries demonstrating that strict gun control measures reduce rates of gun violence, the United States has remained reluctant to enact gun control laws. This can largely be attributed to the Second Amendment of the Constitution, which states that citizens have the right to bear arms. Consequently, gun control has become a highly partisan issue in the U.S., with 80 percent of Democrats believing that it was more important to limit gun ownership while 74 percent of Republicans felt that it was more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns.

The National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) provides states and communities with a clearer understanding of violent deaths to guide local decisions about efforts to prevent violence and helps them track progress over time. To stop violent deaths, we must first understand all the facts. Created in 2002, the NVDRS is a surveillance system that pulls together data on violent deaths in 18 states (see map below), including information about homicides, such as homicides perpetrated by a intimate partner (e.g., boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, husband), child maltreatment (or child abuse) fatalities, suicides, deaths where individuals are killed by law enforcement in the line of duty, unintentional firearm injury deaths, and deaths of undetermined intent. These data are supported by WISQARS, an interactive query system that provides data on injury deaths, violent deaths, and nonfatal injuries.

This dataset consists of gun violence within Jefferson county that may fall within LMPDs radar, including non-fatal shootings, homicides, as well as shot-spotter data. The mapping data points where there are victims have been obfuscated to maintain privacy, while still being accurate enough to be placed in its correct boundaries, particularly around, neighborhoods, ZIP Codes, Council districts, and police divisions. The data also excludes any victim information that could be used to identify any individual. this data is used to make the public aware of what is going on in their communities. The data consists of only criminal incidents, excluding any cases that are deemed non-criminal.Field NameField DescriptionCase numberPolice report number. For ShotSpotter detections, it is the ShotSpotter ID.DateTimeDate and time in which the original incident occurred. Time is rounded down.AddressAddress rounded down to the one hundred block of where the initial incident occured. Unless it is an intersection.NeighborhoodNeighborhood in which the original incident occurred.Council DistrictCouncil district in which the original incident occurred.LatitudeLatitude coordinate used to map the incidentLongitudeLongitude coordinate used to map the incidentZIP CodeZIP Code in which the original incident occurred.Crime Typea distinction between incidents, whether it is a non-fatal shooting, homicide, or a ShotSpotter detection.CauseUsed to differentiate on the cause of death for homicide victims.SexGender of the victim of the initial incident.RaceRace/Ethnicity of the victim in a given incident.Age GroupCategorized age groups used to anonymize victim information.Division NamePolice division or department where the initial incident occurred.Crime report data is provided for Louisville Metro Police Divisions only; crime data does not include smaller class cities, unless LMPD becomes involved in smaller agency incident.The data provided in this dataset is preliminary in nature and may have not been investigated by a detective at the time of download. The data is therefore subject to change after a complete investigation. This data represents only calls for police service where a police incident report was taken. Due to the variations in local laws and ordinances involving crimes across the nation, whether another agency utilizes Uniform Crime Report (UCR) or National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) guidelines, and the results learned after an official investigation, comparisons should not be made between the statistics generated with this dataset to any other official police reports. Totals in the database may vary considerably from official totals following the investigation and final categorization of a crime. Therefore, the data should not be used for comparisons with Uniform Crime Report or other summary statistics.Contact:Ivan Benitez, Ph.D.Gun Violence Data FellowOffice for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoodsivan.benitez@louisvilleky.gov

Mortality rate from firearms includes homicides, suicides, accidental deaths, deaths by law enforcement, and deaths for which intent was undetermined. Mortality rate is based on the location of residence and has been age-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population. ICD 10 codes used to identify firearm deaths are W32-W34, X72-X74, X93-X95, Y22-Y24, Y35.0, and U01.4. Single-year data are only available for Los Angeles County overall, Service Planning Areas, Supervisorial Districts, City of Los Angeles overall, and City of Los Angeles Council Districts.Violence is a public health crisis in the US, with gun violence being a major driver. In the US, the age-adjusted homicide rate from firearms is more than 20 times higher than in the European Union or in Australia. Significant disparities by age, sex, and race and ethnicity exist, with young adults (ages 15-34 years), males, and Black individuals most disproportionately impacted. Firearm-related suicides disproportionately impact older, White men. Comprehensive prevention strategies should work to address underlying physical, social, economic, and structural conditions known to increase risk.For more information about the Community Health Profiles Data Initiative, please see the initiative homepage.

Data tables relating to offences involving weapons as recorded by police and hospital episode statistics.

The Small Arms Survey tracks statistics on violent deaths and compiles them in its Global Violent Deaths (GVD) database. Within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), states have pledged to ‘[p]romote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels’ (SDG 16). The first target identified under this goal, Target 16.1, commits all states to ‘[s]ignificantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere'.

The GVD database, updated annually, provides a tool for assessing progress in implementing Target 16.1. It contains data starting from 2004 and includes datasets on direct conflict deaths, homicides, violent deaths by firearms—including the prevalence of firearms-related killings of women, as well as figures for women victims of lethal violence more generally.

The database contains data from 2004 and includes direct conflict deaths and homicide data sets as well data on 'unintentional homicides' and 'legal interventions deaths'. The database served as the backbone of the Global Burden of Armed Violence reports. Data will be updated and shared once a year.

Sadly, the trend of fatal police shootings in the United States seems to only be increasing, with a total 1,173 civilians having been shot, 248 of whom were Black, as of December 2024. In 2023, there were 1,164 fatal police shootings. Additionally, the rate of fatal police shootings among Black Americans was much higher than that for any other ethnicity, standing at 6.1 fatal shootings per million of the population per year between 2015 and 2024. Police brutality in the U.S. In recent years, particularly since the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, police brutality has become a hot button issue in the United States. The number of homicides committed by police in the United States is often compared to those in countries such as England, where the number is significantly lower. Black Lives Matter The Black Lives Matter Movement, formed in 2013, has been a vocal part of the movement against police brutality in the U.S. by organizing “die-ins”, marches, and demonstrations in response to the killings of black men and women by police. While Black Lives Matter has become a controversial movement within the U.S., it has brought more attention to the number and frequency of police shootings of civilians.

This is historical data. The update frequency has been set to "Static Data" and is here for historic value. Updated on 8/14/2024 Drug-Induced Death Rate - This indicator shows the drug-induced death rate per 100,000 population. Drug-induced deaths include all deaths for which illicit or prescription drugs are the underlying cause. In 2007, drug-induced deaths were more common than alcohol-induced or firearm-related deaths in the United States. Between 2012-2014, there were 2793 drug-induced deaths in Maryland. Link to Data Details

The study was a comprehensive analysis of felonious killings of officers. The purposes of the study were (1) to analyze the nature and circumstances of incidents of felonious police killings and (2) to analyze trends in the numbers and rates of killings across different types of agencies and to explain these differences. For Part 1, Incident-Level Data, an incident-level database was created to capture all incidents involving the death of a police officer from 1983 through 1992. Data on officers and incidents were collected from the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) data collection as coded by the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. In addition to the UCR data, the Police Foundation also coded information from the LEOKA narratives that are not part of the computerized LEOKA database from the FBI. For Part 2, Agency-Level Data, the researchers created an agency-level database to research systematic differences among rates at which law enforcement officers had been feloniously killed from 1977 through 1992. The investigators focused on the 56 largest law enforcement agencies because of the availability of data for explanatory variables. Variables in Part 1 include year of killing, involvement of other officers, if the officer was killed with his/her own weapon, circumstances of the killing, location of fatal wounds, distance between officer and offender, if the victim was wearing body armor, if different officers were killed in the same incident, if the officer was in uniform, actions of the killer and of the officer at entry and final stage, if the killer was visible at first, if the officer thought the killer was a felon suspect, if the officer was shot at entry, and circumstances at anticipation, entry, and final stages. Demographic variables for Part 1 include victim's sex, age, race, type of assignment, rank, years of experience, agency, population group, and if the officer was working a security job. Part 2 contains variables describing the general municipal environment, such as whether the agency is located in the South, level of poverty according to a poverty index, population density, percent of population that was Hispanic or Black, and population aged 15-34 years old. Variables capturing the crime environment include the violent crime rate, property crime rate, and a gun-related crime index. Lastly, variables on the environment of the police agencies include violent and property crime arrests per 1,000 sworn officers, percentage of officers injured in assaults, and number of sworn officers.

Number, rate and percentage changes in rates of homicide victims, Canada, provinces and territories, 1961 to 2023.

AOAV’s monitoring project, launched in October 2010, uses English-language media reports to capture information on who has been killed and injured by incidents of explosive violence.

Between 2011 and 2016 we have seen an almost 48% rise in civilian deaths and injuries around the world as a result of explosive violence.

Number, percentage and rate (per 100,000 population) of homicide victims, by racialized identity group (total, by racialized identity group; racialized identity group; South Asian; Chinese; Black; Filipino; Arab; Latin American; Southeast Asian; West Asian; Korean; Japanese; other racialized identity group; multiple racialized identity; racialized identity, but racialized identity group is unknown; rest of the population; unknown racialized identity group), gender (all genders; male; female; gender unknown) and region (Canada; Atlantic region; Quebec; Ontario; Prairies region; British Columbia; territories), 2019 to 2023.

This data comes from the police department and includes crime data sorted by offense. To respect the privacy of juvenile offenses and witnesses the data has been generalized to the hundred block of the event. Cases involving juvenile related data has been removed. The data is updated weekly.

This dataset reflects reported incidents of crime (with the exception of murders where data exists for each victim) that occurred in the City of Chicago from 2001 to present, minus the most recent seven days. Data is extracted from the Chicago Police Department's CLEAR (Citizen Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting) system. In order to protect the privacy of crime victims, addresses are shown at the block level only and specific locations are not identified. Should you have questions about this dataset, you may contact the Research & Development Division of the Chicago Police Department at 312.745.6071 or RandD@chicagopolice.org. Disclaimer: These crimes may be based upon preliminary information supplied to the Police Department by the reporting parties that have not been verified. The preliminary crime classifications may be changed at a later date based upon additional investigation and there is always the possibility of mechanical or human error. Therefore, the Chicago Police Department does not guarantee (either expressed or implied) the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or correct sequencing of the information and the information should not be used for comparison purposes over time. The Chicago Police Department will not be responsible for any error or omission, or for the use of, or the results obtained from the use of this information. All data visualizations on maps should be considered approximate and attempts to derive specific addresses are strictly prohibited. The Chicago Police Department is not responsible for the content of any off-site pages that are referenced by or that reference this web page other than an official City of Chicago or Chicago Police Department web page. The user specifically acknowledges that the Chicago Police Department is not responsible for any defamatory, offensive, misleading, or illegal conduct of other users, links, or third parties and that the risk of injury from the foregoing rests entirely with the user. The unauthorized use of the words "Chicago Police Department," "Chicago Police," or any colorable imitation of these words or the unauthorized use of the Chicago Police Department logo is unlawful. This web page does not, in any way, authorize such use. Data is updated daily Tuesday through Sunday. The dataset contains more than 65,000 records/rows of data and cannot be viewed in full in Microsoft Excel. Therefore, when downloading the file, select CSV from the Export menu. Open the file in an ASCII text editor, such as Wordpad, to view and search. To access a list of Chicago Police Department - Illinois Uniform Crime Reporting (IUCR) codes, go to http://data.cityofchicago.org/Public-Safety/Chicago-Police-Department-Illinois-Uniform-Crime-R/c7ck-438e

By August 1945, U.S. and British Commonwealth forces had pushed the Japanese back through Southeast Asia to the Japanese mainland, while Japanese control in China was weakening each day, and the Soviet Union was rapidly approaching from the west. However, despite inevitable defeat looming over the Empire of Japan, its military leaders encouraged its forces to fight to the death, and Japanese resistance grew in ferocity as they were pushed back to the mainland, most notably on the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. As U.S. leadership realized that an amphibious assault on the Japanese mainland would result in heavy and unnecessary casualties on both sides, including large numbers of civilians, an alternative measure was sought. The USSR's advance also put time pressure on the Americans, as defeating Japan quickly would give the U.S. more time to assert control over the region, without having to split control with the Soviets (as was the case in Germany). The bombs are dropped On May 31, 1945, it was suggested that the U.S. demonstrate the power of the atomic bomb to the Japanese, to convince them to surrender - the plan was rejected, however, in the fear that it was not convincing enough, that the Japanese may shoot down the plane, or that the bomb was a dud - instead, a surprise attack was viewed as the most effective course of action. Following the Trinity Test in July 16, the United States achieved the goal of successfully creating and detonating a nuclear weapon. On July 26, the leaders of the U.S., UK, and China all called for the unconditional surrender of Japan, otherwise Japan would face "prompt and utter destruction". Japan did not surrender, and on the morning of August 6, the Enola Gay B-29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb, known as "Little Boy", over the city of Hiroshima. Japan still refused to surrender, and three days later, another bomb, known as "Fat Man", was dropped over Nagasaki. Japan's surrender was announced on August 15, and formalized on September 2, 1945, bringing WWII to a close. Impact The bomb dropped over Hiroshima was a uranium 235 bomb, which detonated at approximately 580 meters (1,900ft) above the ground and had a yield of 16 kilotons (i.e. it had the same blast force as 16,000 tons of TNT). The bomb dropped over Nagasaki was a plutonium 239 bomb, which detonated at approximately 500 meters (1,650ft) and had a yield of 21 kilotons. The temperatures at the epicenter of the explosions reached around 3,000-4,000 degrees Celsius, and thermal radiation was so strong that it caused third degree burns over a kilometer from ground zero. The majority of those within a one km radius of both explosions were killed instantly through the blast force and intense heat, while those further away were more susceptible to injuries by burning, falling debris and glass, and radiation. Additionally, as the fallout from the blast (i.e. radioactive dust and ash sent into the air by the explosion) returned to the ground it was carried by the wind to populations outside of the blast radius, and radiation sickness then took hold over the days and weeks that followed. Due to the nature of the attack, Japan's population distribution at the time, and the long-term effects of radiation poisoning (which may be responsible for illnesses and death several years after exposure), there is no accepted consensus on the total number of deaths due to the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki -the figures given appear to be on the lower end of estimate ranges, where combined estimates generally vary between 110,000 and 210,000 deaths.