As of July 22, 2024, there have been a total of 270 school shootings in California since 1966, the most out of any state. Texas had the second highest number of school shootings within this time period, with 225 shootings. 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.

From 2008 to April 25, 2025, the District of Columbia had the highest rate of school shootings nationwide, totaling around **** school shootings per 100,000 residents. Louisiana, Delaware, Maryland, and Alabama rounded out the top five states with the highest school shooting rates relative to their populations. In contrast, there were no school shootings recorded in Montana, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island within the provided time period. In addition to K-12 schools and college campuses, gun-related violence in the United States often occurs at workplaces, places of worship, and restaurants and bars. The source defines school shootings as incidents of gun violence which occurred on school property, from kindergartens through colleges/universities, 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.

As of September 2024, California had the most mass shootings in the United States, with 26 total shootings since 1982. The source defines a mass shooting as a shooting where three or more people were killed. Recently, a mass shooting occurred in the state of Maine on October 26, 2023, during which one of the highest number of fatalities from a mass shooting was recorded after Robert Card opened fire in a bowling alley and a bar, killing 18 and injuring 13 others. Firearms in the U.S. Mass shootings in the United States are disturbingly common. In comparison with other Western countries, there are significantly more shootings in the U.S., which some theorize is due to the relatively lax gun control laws. Gun control laws in the U.S. are dependent on the state, and the right to own a firearm is enshrined in the United States Constitution. Mass shootings The worst mass shooting in the U.S. was the Las Vegas Strip massacre in 2017, which resulted in 58 deaths and 546 injuries. 13 of the worst mass shootings in the United States have occurred since 2015 and the vast majority of these incidents in the U.S. have been carried out by shooters who are White and male.

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.

As of June 2022, there were 153 school shootings in total in the United States in that year. Of these incidents, only two were active shooter incidents. The largest number of active shooter incidents in schools was in 2018, with 11 active shooters.

The source defines a shooting as any time a gun is brandished, fired, or a bullet hits school property for any reason.

THIS DATASET WAS LAST UPDATED AT 2:11 AM EASTERN ON JULY 12

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.

Dataset - School shootings-United States in the news

This study provides an evidence-based understanding on etiological issues related to school shootings and rampage shootings. It created a national, open-source database that includes all publicly known shootings that resulted in at least one injury that occurred on K-12 school grounds between 1990 and 2016. The investigators sought to better understand the nature of the problem and clarify the types of shooting incidents occurring in schools, provide information on the characteristics of school shooters, and compare fatal shooting incidents to events where only injuries resulted to identify intervention points that could be exploited to reduce the harm caused by shootings. To accomplish these objectives, the investigators used quantitative multivariate and qualitative case studies research methods to document where and when school violence occurs, and highlight key incident and perpetrator level characteristics to help law enforcement and school administrators differentiate between the kinds of school shootings that exist, to further policy responses that are appropriate for individuals and communities.

Sections distribution - School shootings-United States in the news

Sources distribution - School shootings-United States in the news

Evolution, trends - School shootings-United States in the news

From 1966 to November 4, 2024, there were 323 victims wounded, while 98 victims were killed, by K-12 school shootings in California, the most out of any state. Within the provided time period, Texas recorded the second-highest victim count, with 182 wounded and 88 killed by K-12 school shootings statewide.

From 1999 to January 2025, *** school shootings were recorded in the United States, *** of which occurred in public schools. Within the provided time period, only ** shootings were recorded in private schools.

From 1999 to March 2025, 38.1 percent of White students had experienced a school shooting in the United States. Within that time period, 33 percent of Black students had also experienced a school shooting, despite making up less than 15 percent of the public school population.

Sentiment polarity - School shootings-United States in the news

The graph displays the Top 5 states with the most mass shootings in the U.S. from 1982 to 2024, with the x-axis representing states and the y-axis showing the total number of mass shootings recorded in each state. California leads with 26 mass shootings, followed by Florida and Texas, each with 13 incidents. Other states with high numbers include Colorado (8), Washington (7). The data shows that mass shootings have occurred across a wide range of states, with some experiencing significantly more incidents than others.

IntroductionFor over two decades school shootings have become a significant concern, especially in the United States. Following a rampage school shooting, extensive resources are devoted to gathering all of the information surrounding the event. To date, few studies have compared completed to averted, or near-miss, school shootings. This study utilized the largest known sample of cases based in the United States in an effort to identify potential targets for prevention.MethodData were derived from the Averted School Violence database of incidents occurring between 1999 and 2020. Statistical analyses were conducted to determine how age, co-conspirator involvement, engagement in leakage warning behavior, and motives – in isolation and in combination – varied between groups.ResultsIn insolation, age, co-conspirator involvement, engagement in leakage warning behaviors, and motives were significantly different between groups. However, when these variables were combined into a logistic regression, co-conspirator involvement, engagement in leakage warning behaviors, and motives involving suicidal intent emerged as statistically significant predictors of group membership. Age no longer differentiated the two types of events.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that regardless of suspect age, threats of school violence must be taken seriously and investigated fully. Further, students reporting their peers’ engagement in shooting-related behaviors (e.g., bringing a gun to school, mapping school, etc.) was one of the most significant predictors that a plot will be thwarted. While perpetrators who planned with others had increased odds of their plot being identified, those acting alone still demonstrated leakage behaviors. If individuals in the school environment are educated regarding warning behaviors, lone perpetrators can still be identified and reported to authorities. The perpetrator’s emotional distress, in particular depressive or suicidal thoughts were also a significant predictor of a completed school shooting. Future research efforts should focus on the development and evaluation of peer training programs to assist in the detection of school shooting warning behaviors.

The dataset contains detailed information on mass shooting attacks that took place in the United States of America in 1966 - 2017.

Source: https://www.kaggle.com/zusmani/us-mass-shootings-last-50-years/version/4#Mass%20Shootings%20Dataset%20Ver%205.csv

As of June 19, 116 school shooting incidents were recorded in K-12 schools in the United States in 2025. Within the provided time period, the greatest number of K-12 school shootings was recorded in 2023, at 350. 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.

How do events that highlight a policy issue impact political preferences? In this paper, I analyze the impact of mass shootings on voter behavior. I show that, conditional on population, mass shootings are largely random events. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, I find that mass shootings result in a 1.7 percentage point loss in Republican vote share in counties where they occur. Identification that relies on comparing successful and failed mass shootings yields similar results. Mass shootings lead to an increase in the salience of gun policy and increase the divide on gun policy among both voters and politicians. Democrats (Republicans) tend to demand even stricter (looser) gun control after mass shootings. These results suggest that increasing the salience of an issue may polarize the electorate.