Between 1982 and August 2025, 84 out of the 155 mass shootings in the United States were carried out by white shooters. By comparison, the perpetrator was Black in 26 mass shootings and Latino in 12. When calculated as percentages, this amounts to 54 percent, 17 percent, and eight percent, respectively. Race of mass shooters reflects the U.S. population Broadly speaking, the racial distribution of mass shootings mirrors the racial distribution of the U.S. population as a whole. While a superficial comparison of the statistics seems to suggest African American shooters are over-represented and Latino shooters underrepresented, the fact that the shooter’s race is unclear in around nine percent of cases, along with the different time frames over which these statistics are calculated, means no such conclusions should be drawn. Conversely, looking at the mass shootings in the United States by gender clearly demonstrates that the majority of mass shootings are carried out by men. Mass shootings and mental health With no clear patterns between the socio-economic or cultural background of mass shooters, increasing attention has been placed on mental health. Analysis of the factors Americans considered to be to blame for mass shootings showed 80 percent of people felt the inability of the mental health system to recognize those who pose a danger to others was a significant factor. This concern is not without merit – in over half of the mass shootings since 1982, the shooter showed prior signs of mental health issues, suggesting improved mental health services may help deal with this horrific problem. Mass shootings and guns In the wake of multiple mass shootings, critics have sought to look beyond the issues of shooter identification and their influences by focusing on their access to guns. The majority of mass shootings in the U.S. involve firearms which were obtained legally, reflecting the easy ability of Americans to purchase and carry deadly weapons in public. Gun control takes on a particular significance when the uniquely American phenomenon of school shootings is considered. The annual number of incidents involving firearms at K-12 schools in the U.S. was over 100 in each year since 2018. Conversely, similar incidents in other developed countries exceptionally rare, with only five school shootings in G7 countries other than the U.S. between 2009 and 2018.

From 1966 to January 2024, ** percent of mass public shooters who carried out the shooting at K-12 schools in the United States identified as White, followed by ** percent who were Native American and * percent who were Latinx. For mass public shootings occurring at colleges and universities, the shooter was most likely to identify as Asian, at ** percent, followed by ** percent who were White. In addition, Black and Middle Eastern shooters each made up ** percent. The source defines a mass public shooting as a multiple homicide incident in which 4 or more victims are murdered with firearms—not including the offender(s)—within one event, and at least some of the murders occurred in a public location or locations in close geographical proximity (e.g., a workplace, school, restaurant, or other public settings), and the murders are not attributable to any other underlying criminal activity or commonplace circumstance (armed robbery, criminal competition, insurance fraud, argument, or romantic triangle). Mass shootings attributable to gangs, as well as most domestic homicides, are therefore excluded from this definition.

THIS DATASET WAS LAST UPDATED AT 7:11 AM EASTERN ON DEC. 1

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.

Since 1982, an astonishing 149 mass shootings have been carried out in the United States by male shooters. In contrast, only four mass shootings (defined by the source as a single attack in a public place in which four or more victims were killed) have been carried out by women. Gun ownership in the U.S. Possession of firearms in the United States is protected by the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution and has been a defining aspect of American civil liberties since the writing of the Bill of Rights. It is estimated that the United States has the highest rate of civilian-owned firearms in the world, and Americans continually poll against handgun restrictions. Mass shootings However, with high gun ownership comes high responsibility. The United States consistently faces numerous mass shootings each year, particularly in schools. The five deadliest mass shootings have all occurred since 2007, with the deadliest being the Las Vegas Strip massacre in 2017, which claimed the lives of 58 people and injured 546 more.

As of August 11, there were four mass shootings in the United States in 2025. This is compared to one mass shooting in 1982, one in 2000, and 12 mass shootings in 2022 and 2023. School shootings The United States sees the most school shootings in the world. Some motivations for school shootings included depression, seeking revenge, and bullying. As a result of the large amount of school shootings, gun control has become a central topic in U.S. politics. This widespread problem happens across the United States; however California saw the highest number of K-12 school shootings in the United States since 1970. However, the deadliest school shooting (as of October 2023) was the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007. This tragedy left 33 dead and 23 injured. Mass shooting issues Mass shootings happen when there are several injuries or deaths from a firearm-related violence. Throughout the last century, mass shootings have become an epidemic in the United States. However, despite the increase in mass shootings and number of casualties, the U.S. government has done little to prevent future shootings from happening. As a result of the lack of cooperation in politics, mass shootings have become an important issue for Generation Z living in the United States. Furthermore, having the right to bear arms is a popular belief in the U.S. and the percentage of households in the United States owning at least one firearm has remained somewhat steady since 1972.

Context

Mass Shootings in the United States of America (1966-2017)

The US has witnessed 398 mass shootings in last 50 years that resulted in 1,996 deaths and 2,488 injured. The latest and the worst mass shooting of October 2, 2017 killed 58 and injured 515 so far. The number of people injured in this attack is more than the number of people injured in all mass shootings of 2015 and 2016 combined.

The average number of mass shootings per year is 7 for the last 50 years that would claim 39 lives and 48 injured per year.

Content

Geography: United States of America

Time period: 1966-2017

Unit of analysis: Mass Shooting Attack

Dataset: The dataset contains detailed information of 398 mass shootings in the United States of America that killed 1996 and injured 2488 people.

Variables: The dataset contains Serial No, Title, Location, Date, Summary, Fatalities, Injured, Total Victims, Mental Health Issue, Race, Gender, and Lat-Long information.

Acknowledgements

I’ve consulted several public datasets and web pages to compile this data.

Some of the major data sources include Wikipedia, Mother Jones, Stanford, USA Today and other web sources.

Inspiration

With a broken heart, I like to call the attention of my fellow Kagglers to use Machine Learning and Data Sciences to help me explore these ideas:

• How many people got killed and injured per year?

• Visualize mass shootings on the U.S map

• Is there any correlation between shooter and his/her race, gender

• Any correlation with calendar dates? Do we have more deadly days, weeks or months on average

• What cities and states are more prone to such attacks

• Can you find and combine any other external datasets to enrich the analysis, for example, gun ownership by state

• Any other pattern you see that can help in prediction, crowd safety or in-depth analysis of the event

• How many shooters have some kind of mental health problem? Can we compare that shooter with general population with same condition

Mass Shootings Dataset Ver 3

This is the new Version of Mass Shootings Dataset. I've added eight new variables:

Incident Area (where the incident took place), Open/Close Location (Inside a building or open space) Target (possible target audience or company), Cause (Terrorism, Hate Crime, Fun (for no obvious reason etc.) Policeman Killed (how many on duty officers got killed) Age (age of the shooter) Employed (Y/N) Employed at (Employer Name) Age, Employed and Employed at (3 variables) contain shooter details

Mass Shootings Dataset Ver 4

Quite a few missing values have been added

Mass Shootings Dataset Ver 5

Three more recent mass shootings have been added including the Texas Church shooting of November 5, 2017

I hope it will help create more visualization and extract patterns.

Keep Coding!

From 1999 to March 2025, **** percent of White students had experienced a school shooting in the United States. Within that time period, ** percent of Black students had also experienced a school shooting, despite making up less than 15 percent of the public school population.

One can easily find postings, articles, etc… in social network about mass shooting, gun violence, it's frequency, impacts, severity, and so on. However, one might be curious in its details of what the root causes are? where are common incident areas? Are those shooters mostly have mental health problem or some kind of severe psycho as everyone has mentioned about? What are those shooters features? How are their behaviors, age range, race, etc? or is there any correlational relationships between those features that helps us understand more about them and their motives? By having more insight of US Mass shooting cases, its common root cause, features of shooter and other related aspects, it might help every single individual to recognize sign of a mass shooter or can even have solutions on education, mental balance support, and obligation for preventing such tragedy to contribute to a better healthier society. For my world fellow friends, hope you all have a quality data source for your references, analysis and learning.

Content

This data covers raw data of mass shooting cases in US from 1966-2019. In fact it does not cover all cases but it gives analyst/ viewer a general viewpoint of gun violence situation in US. For my analysis on this data please find in links below: • US Mass Shooting 1: Overview Analysis and Root Cause 1966-2019 • US Mass Shooting 1: Shooter’s Analysis 1966-2019

Data structure shown in sheet "Data Structure". Data includes: • Fields: 24 • Rows: 339 (339 cases) • Data coverage: partial (not included all mass shooting cases but typical ones) data from 1966-2019 • Cleaned: Yes • Data cleaning procedure: click here • Original data source: (1) https://www.kaggle.com/zusmani/us-mass-shootings-last-50-years?select=Mass+Shootings+Dataset.csv , (2) https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother-jones-full-data/ • Original data problems: Missing data, duplicate data, null data, partial or incomplete data (incomplete location name, missing latitude, longtitude, etc.), incorrect information (number of victims, etc.).

Acknowledgements

Thanks Zeeshan-ul-hassan Usmani and motherjones.com team for your contribution and wish everyone all the best.

BackgroundGun violence has shortened the average life expectancy of Americans, and better knowledge about the root causes of gun violence is crucial to its prevention. While some empirical evidence exists regarding the impacts of social and economic factors on violence and firearm homicide rates, to the author’s knowledge, there has yet to be a comprehensive and comparative lagged, multilevel investigation of major social determinants of health in relation to firearm homicides and mass shootings.Methods and findingsThis study used negative binomial regression models and geolocated gun homicide incident data from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2015, to explore and compare the independent associations of key state-, county-, and neighborhood-level social determinants of health—social mobility, social capital, income inequality, racial and economic segregation, and social spending—with neighborhood firearm-related homicides and mass shootings in the United States, accounting for relevant state firearm laws and a variety of state, county, and neighborhood (census tract [CT]) characteristics. Latitude and longitude coordinates on firearm-related deaths were previously collected by the Gun Violence Archive, and then linked by the British newspaper The Guardian to CTs according to 2010 Census geographies. The study population consisted of all 74,134 CTs as defined for the 2010 Census in the 48 states of the contiguous US. The final sample spanned 70,579 CTs, containing an estimated 314,247,908 individuals, or 98% of the total US population in 2015. The analyses were based on 13,060 firearm-related deaths in 2015, with 11,244 non-mass shootings taking place in 8,673 CTs and 141 mass shootings occurring in 138 CTs. For area-level social determinants, lag periods of 3 to 17 years were examined based on existing theory, empirical evidence, and data availability. County-level institutional social capital (levels of trust in institutions), social mobility, income inequality, and public welfare spending exhibited robust relationships with CT-level gun homicide rates and the total numbers of combined non-mass and mass shooting homicide incidents and non-mass shooting homicide incidents alone. A 1–standard deviation (SD) increase in institutional social capital was linked to a 19% reduction in the homicide rate (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.81, 95% CI 0.73–0.91, p < 0.001) and a 17% decrease in the number of firearm homicide incidents (IRR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.73–0.95, p = 0.01). Upward social mobility was related to a 25% reduction in the gun homicide rate (IRR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.66–0.86, p < 0.001) and a 24% decrease in the number of homicide incidents (IRR = 0.76, 95% CI 0.67–0.87, p < 0.001). Meanwhile, 1-SD increases in the neighborhood percentages of residents in poverty and males living alone were associated with 26%–27% and 12% higher homicide rates, respectively. Study limitations include possible residual confounding by factors at the individual/household level, and lack of disaggregation of gun homicide data by gender and race/ethnicity.ConclusionsThis study finds that the rich–poor gap, level of citizens’ trust in institutions, economic opportunity, and public welfare spending are all related to firearm homicide rates in the US. Further establishing the causal nature of these associations and modifying these social determinants may help to address the growing gun violence epidemic and reverse recent life expectancy declines among Americans.

As of August 11, 14 people were killed in mass shootings in the United States in 2025. A total of 1,173 victims were fatally injured during mass shootings in the United States between 1982 and August 11, 2025.

Between 1966 and June 19, 2025, students were the most likely offenders of K-12 school shootings in the United States, accounting for 42.8 percent of the shootings that took place in elementary and secondary schools. Within the provided time period, almost three percent of K-12 school shootings were perpetrated by a parent, while 3.6 percent were committed by a former student. The source defines a school shooting as every time a gun is brandished, fired, or a bullet hits school property for any reason, regardless of the number of victims (including zero), time, day or the week, or reason, including gang shootings, domestic violence, shootings at sports games and after hours school events, suicides, fights that escalate into shootings, and accidents.

Gun ownership in the United States is the highest in the world, and constitutionally protected by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. Firearms are widely used in the United States for self-defence, hunting, and recreational uses, such as target shooting.

Source: https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/nidzsharma/us-mass-shootings-19822023

https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F13190980%2F56c639fee11c268267f9cf4ece33cf6a%2Fnewplot%20(6).png?generation=1680562776580204&alt=media" alt="">

Data columns:

• 0 case
• 1 location
• 2 date
• 3 summary
• 4 fatalities
• 5 injured
• 6 total_victims
• 7 location.1
• 8 age_of_shooter
• 9 prior_signs_mental_health_issues - Cleaned
• 10 mental_health_details - Cleaned
• 11 weapons_obtained_legally
• 12 where_obtained
• 13 weapon_type
• 14 weapon_details
• 15 race - cleaned
• 16 gender - cleaned
• 17 latitude - filled from location with Google Maps API
• 18 longitude - filled from location with Google Maps API
• 19 type
• 20 year - retrieved from date column
• 21 quarter - retrieved from date column
• 22 half - retrieved from date column
• 23 month_name - retrieved from date column
• 24 day_of_week - retrieved from date column
• 25 age_group - "Teenage", "Early Adulthood", "Middle Adulthood", "Old Age"
• 26 decade - retrieved from date
• 27 name - retrieved from splitting summary
• 28 current_age - retrieved from splitting summary
• 29 description - retrieved from splitting summary

The deadliest school shooting in the United States as of August 11, 2025, was the Virginia Tech massacre, with 32 fatalities and 23 injuries. The next deadliest school shooting (based on fatalities) was the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, with 27 fatalities. School shootings in the U.S. Mass shootings in the United States have become a disturbingly common occurrence, and sadly, so have school shootings. The Columbine school shooting is perhaps the most famous in the country’s history, and since 1999 (when the shooting occurred), the number of school shootings has only increased. Many measures have been used to try to prevent school shootings, including security guards and metal detectors being deployed in schools, and even the suggestion that teachers be allowed to carry guns in schools. Gun control Gun control in the United States is a sticky issue, since gun ownership is enshrined in the Constitution. Some advocate for stricter gun control laws to try to prevent future mass shootings, while others say that this is unconstitutional. Gun ownership rates in the U.S. are high, with the share of American households owning at least one firearm remaining relatively steady since 1972.

Between 1970 and June 16, 2020, 175 school shootings were perpetrated by 17-year-olds. 16-year-olds perpetrated the second highest number of school shootings, with 163 shootings.

Find violent death data in Massachusetts, inluding homicide and suicide.

On October 1, 2017, the highest number of fatalities from a mass shooting in the United States was recorded when Stephen Paddock attacked a crowd of concert-goers on the Las Vegas strip, killing 58 and injuring 546 others, then taking his own life before authorities could apprehend him. Most recently, one of the worst mass shootings in the U.S. occurred in Maine on October 26, 2023, when Robert Card, an Army reservist and firearms instructor, opened fire in a bowling alley and a bar, killing 18 and injuring 13 others. Card then became the focus of a two-day-long manhunt, until he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.

In the United States, Black people have higher rates of gun homicide than White people across all age groups. As of 2022, gun homicide rates were highest among Black people aged between 15 and 24 years, at ***** gun homicides per 100,000 of the population. In comparison, there were only **** gun homicides per 100,000 of the White population within this age range. However, the risk for gun homicide was greatest among all adolescents and adults between the ages of 15 to 44 in that year. The impact of guns on young Americans In the last few years, firearms have become the leading cause of death for American children and teenagers aged one to 19 years old, accounting for more deaths than car crashes and diseases. School shootings also remain on the rise recently, with the U.S. recording ** times as many school shootings than other high-income nations from 2009 to 2018. Black students in particular experience a disproportionately high number of school shootings relative to their population, and K-12 teachers at schools made up mostly of students of color are more likely to report feeling afraid that they or their students would be a victim of attack or harm. The right to bear arms Despite increasingly high rates of gun-related violence, gun ownership remains a significant part of American culture, largely due to the fact that the right to bear arms is written into the U.S. Constitution. Although firearms are the most common murder weapon used in the U.S., accounting for approximately ****** homicides in 2022, almost **** of American households have at least one firearm in their possession. Consequently, it is evident that firearms remain easily accessible nationwide, even though gun laws may vary from state to state. However, the topic of gun control still causes political controversy, as the majority of Republicans agree that it is more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns, while Democrats are more inclined to believe that it is more important to limit gun ownership.

As of March 19, ***** school shootings were recorded in the United States in 2025, impacting K-12 school grounds and college campuses nationwide. In comparison, there were ** school shooting incidents recorded in 2024. In addition to schools, gun-related violence occurs in many public places within the United States, including workplaces, churches, restaurants, and nightclubs. The source defines school shootings as incidents of gun violence which occurred on school property and at least one person was shot, not including the shooter. School property includes, but is not limited to, buildings, fields, parking lots, stadiums and buses. Accidental discharges of firearms are included, as long as at least one person is shot, but not if the sole shooter is law enforcement or school security.

From 1966 to December 2024, all mass public shooters who carried out shootings at a post office or at a warehouse or factory in the United States were considered 'location insiders', as 100 percent were found to have an existing relationship to the shooting site. In contrast, mass shootings which took place in retail locations had a greater chance of being conducted by someone unaffiliated with the location; within the provided time period, ** percent of mass public shooters behind retail shootings were seen as outsiders to their chosen shooting site. Similarly, the majority of mass public shooters who chose a restaurant, bar, or nightclub as the site of shooting had no existing relationship to these locations, at ** percent. The source defines a mass public shooting as: “a multiple homicide incident in which **** or more victims are murdered with firearms—not including the offender(s)—within one event, and at least some of the murders occurred in a public location or locations in close geographical proximity (e.g., a workplace, school, restaurant, or other public settings), and the murders are not attributable to any other underlying criminal activity or commonplace circumstance (armed robbery, criminal competition, insurance fraud, argument, or romantic triangle). Mass shootings attributable to gangs, as well as most domestic homicides, are therefore excluded from this definition.

According to a survey conducted in 2022, 39 percent of K-12 teachers at urban schools in the United States felt afraid that their students would be a victim of attack or harm at school, while 17 percent feared the same for themselves. At schools with a majority of students of color, 36 percent of K-12 teachers reported feeling afraid for their students and 19 percent felt afraid for themselves.