THIS DATASET WAS LAST UPDATED AT 2:11 AM EASTERN ON JULY 12
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.
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.
To get basic counts of incidents of mass killings and mass shootings by year nationwide, use these queries:
To get these counts just for your state:
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.
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.
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.
Open Government Licence - Canada 2.0https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada
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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.
Number, percentage and rate (per 100,000 population) of persons accused of homicide, by gender (all genders; male; female; gender unknown) and Indigenous identity (total; Indigenous identity; non-Indigenous identity; unknown Indigenous identity), Canada, provinces and territories, 2014 to 2023.
Number and percentage of homicide victims, by type of firearm used to commit the homicide (total firearms; handgun; rifle or shotgun; fully automatic firearm; sawed-off rifle or shotgun; firearm-like weapons; other firearms, type unknown), Canada, 1974 to 2018.
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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This dataset covers the 2012 to 2013 publicly searchable femicide databases using hand searching. The study uses mixed method approaches to document and analyse the content and extent of commercial news media coverage of femicides that took place in South Africa during the 2012/2013 crime reporting year, through an original media database listing 408 femicide victims associated with 5,778 press articles. The study conducted on femicide revealed that over 2500 women aged over 14 years and older are murdered every year, of which less that 20% of these murders are ever reported in South African news media.
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.
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Nigeria NG: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data was reported at 4.967 Ratio in 2015. Nigeria NG: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data is updated yearly, averaging 4.967 Ratio from Dec 2015 (Median) to 2015, with 1 observations. Nigeria NG: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Nigeria – Table NG.World Bank: Health Statistics. Intentional homicides, female are estimates of unlawful female homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.; ; UN Office on Drugs and Crime's International Homicide Statistics database.; ;
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United Kingdom UK: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data was reported at 0.874 Ratio in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.776 Ratio for 2015. United Kingdom UK: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data is updated yearly, averaging 0.825 Ratio from Dec 2005 (Median) to 2016, with 12 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.115 Ratio in 2007 and a record low of 0.599 Ratio in 2011. United Kingdom UK: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Health Statistics. Intentional homicides, female are estimates of unlawful female homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.; ; UN Office on Drugs and Crime's International Homicide Statistics database.; ;
This dataset contains counts of deaths for California as a whole based on information entered on death certificates. Final counts are derived from static data and include out-of-state deaths to California residents, whereas provisional counts are derived from incomplete and dynamic data. Provisional counts are based on the records available when the data was retrieved and may not represent all deaths that occurred during the time period. Deaths involving injuries from external or environmental forces, such as accidents, homicide and suicide, often require additional investigation that tends to delay certification of the cause and manner of death. This can result in significant under-reporting of these deaths in provisional data.
The final data tables include both deaths that occurred in California regardless of the place of residence (by occurrence) and deaths to California residents (by residence), whereas the provisional data table only includes deaths that occurred in California regardless of the place of residence (by occurrence). The data are reported as totals, as well as stratified by age, gender, race-ethnicity, and death place type. Deaths due to all causes (ALL) and selected underlying cause of death categories are provided. See temporal coverage for more information on which combinations are available for which years.
The cause of death categories are based solely on the underlying cause of death as coded by the International Classification of Diseases. The underlying cause of death is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "the disease or injury which initiated the train of events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury." It is a single value assigned to each death based on the details as entered on the death certificate. When more than one cause is listed, the order in which they are listed can affect which cause is coded as the underlying cause. This means that similar events could be coded with different underlying causes of death depending on variations in how they were entered. Consequently, while underlying cause of death provides a convenient comparison between cause of death categories, it may not capture the full impact of each cause of death as it does not always take into account all conditions contributing to the death.
Open Government Licence - Canada 2.0https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada
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Number and rate (per 100,000 population) of victims of solved homicides, by gender (all genders; male; female; gender unknown), Indigenous identity (total, homicide victims by Indigenous identity; Indigenous identity; non-Indigenous identity; unknown Indigenous identity) and type of accused-victim relationship, Canada, 2014 to 2023.
Open Government Licence 3.0http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
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Domestic abuse numbers, prevalence, types and victim characteristics, based upon findings from the Crime Survey for England and Wales and police recorded crime.
Open Government Licence - Canada 2.0https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada
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Number of homicide victims and persons accused of homicide, by age group (total all ages; 0 to 11 years; 12 to 17 years; 18 to 24 years; 25 to 29 years; 30 to 39 years; 40 to 49 years; 50 to 59 years; 60 years and over; age unknown) and sex (both sexes; male; female; sex unknown), Canada, 1974 to 2017.
Number of victims of spousal homicide, Canada and regions, 1997 to 2023.
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Japan JP: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data was reported at 0.302 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.333 Ratio for 2015. Japan JP: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data is updated yearly, averaging 0.366 Ratio from Dec 2004 (Median) to 2016, with 13 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.517 Ratio in 2008 and a record low of 0.291 Ratio in 2013. Japan JP: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.World Bank: Health Statistics. Intentional homicides, female are estimates of unlawful female homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.; ; UN Office on Drugs and Crime's International Homicide Statistics database.; ;
Open Government Licence 3.0http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
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Findings from the analyses based on the Homicide Index recorded by the Home Office, including long-term trends, sex of the victim, apparent method of killing and relationship to victim.
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United States US: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data was reported at 2.261 Ratio in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 2.062 Ratio for 2015. United States US: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data is updated yearly, averaging 2.337 Ratio from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2016, with 17 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.086 Ratio in 2001 and a record low of 1.983 Ratio in 2014. United States US: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Health Statistics. Intentional homicides, female are estimates of unlawful female homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.; ; UN Office on Drugs and Crime's International Homicide Statistics database.; ;
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The dataset contains year- and type-of-crime-wise data on the number of Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes registered, as per the NCRB data. The types of crimes covered in the dataset include Murder, Dacoity, Robbery, Burglary, Theft, Riots, Abetment of Suicide, Affray, Arson, Assault on Women, Culpable Homicide, Dacoity/Robbery, Murder, Rape, Commit Suicide, Buying of Minors for Prostitution, Causing Death by Negligence, Cheating by Impersonation, Circulate False/Fake News/Rumours, Counterfeiting, Cruelty by Husband or his Relatives, Dowry Deaths, Extortion & Blackmailing, Human Trafficking, Hurt, among others
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Sweden SE: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data was reported at 0.590 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.594 Ratio for 2015. Sweden SE: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data is updated yearly, averaging 0.597 Ratio from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2016, with 17 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.896 Ratio in 2004 and a record low of 0.446 Ratio in 2012. Sweden SE: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sweden – Table SE.World Bank: Health Statistics. Intentional homicides, female are estimates of unlawful female homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.; ; UN Office on Drugs and Crime's International Homicide Statistics database.; ;
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License information was derived automatically
Saudi Arabia SA: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data was reported at 1.145 Ratio in 2015. Saudi Arabia SA: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data is updated yearly, averaging 1.145 Ratio from Dec 2015 (Median) to 2015, with 1 observations. Saudi Arabia SA: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Saudi Arabia – Table SA.World Bank: Health Statistics. Intentional homicides, female are estimates of unlawful female homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.; ; UN Office on Drugs and Crime's International Homicide Statistics database.; ;
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License information was derived automatically
Trinidad and Tobago TT: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data was reported at 4.209 Ratio in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 6.563 Ratio for 2014. Trinidad and Tobago TT: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data is updated yearly, averaging 5.914 Ratio from Dec 2004 (Median) to 2015, with 12 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 8.585 Ratio in 2008 and a record low of 3.997 Ratio in 2004. Trinidad and Tobago TT: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Trinidad and Tobago – Table TT.World Bank: Health Statistics. Intentional homicides, female are estimates of unlawful female homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.; ; UN Office on Drugs and Crime's International Homicide Statistics database.; ;
THIS DATASET WAS LAST UPDATED AT 2:11 AM EASTERN ON JULY 12
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.
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.
To get basic counts of incidents of mass killings and mass shootings by year nationwide, use these queries:
To get these counts just for your state:
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.
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.
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.