Mass Shootings Fact Sheet

Mass Shootings Factsheet

Mass public shootings continue to be a concern for policymakers and the public alike, particularly as new events dominate headlines. Although these incidents represent one of the rarest forms of gun violence, the require different strategies for both prevention and response. A starting point to developing these is understanding the context and characteristics of mass public shootings. This fact sheet, drawn from data which also serves as the basis for the Regional Gun Violence Research’s flagship policy brief on the topic, provides important insights in mass public shootings from 1966 to the present.

DEFINITION

A mass shooting is an incident of targeted violence carried out by one or more shooters at one or more public or populated locations. Multiple victims (both injuries and fatalities) are associated with the attack, and both the victims and location(s) are chosen either at random or for their symbolic value. The event occurs within a single 24-hour period, though most attacks typically last only a few minutes. The motivation of the shooting must not correlate with gang violence or targeted militant or terroristic activity.*

*Definition developed by Jaclyn Schildkraut and H. Jaymi Elsass. The data underlying the visualizations below are collected and maintained by Jaclyn Schildkraut and H. Jaymi Elsass. A full description of the methodology underpinning this database is available below.

Between 1966 and 2022, there were 441 mass public shootings in the United States

1,569

total fatalities

3,923

total victims
(both injured and killed)

These statistics translate to an average of 3.6 people killed and 5.3 people injured in each mass public shooting event. The risk of becoming a victim of a mass shooting, whether being killed or injured, remains low. In the most recent period analyzed (2016-2022), the average annual rate of victimization was 0.07 per 100,000 individuals in the population. Additionally, when individuals are impacted by mass shootings, they are more likely to be injured than killed, a trend that has continued since the mid-1980s.

The majority of mass public shootings occurred at workplaces and schools

Other locations include, but are not limited to, airports, medical facilities (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes), public parks, modes of transportation (e.g., buses, trains, subways), salons and spas, and car washes.

Mass shootings have been steadily increasing in frequency since 1966

Between 1966 and 1975, for example, there were 12 mass shooting events that met the definition. By comparison, there were 170 mass shooting events in the most recent 10 years analyzed (2013-2022). The dashed trendline in the above figure illustrates the continual increase in the number of events per year across the full data collection period.

THE WEAPONS

Mass shootings are most commonly perpetrated with handguns

Most mass shootings involve a single weapon

THE PERPETRATORS

Mass shootings perpetrators are typically males

(Based on 454 perpetrators)

The average age of mass shooters is 33.4 years

The youngest perpetrator was 11 years old at the time of the shooting (1998: Jonesboro, AR). The oldest perpetrator was 88 years old (2009: Washington, DC).

Mass shooters are racially/ethnically diverse, though a majority are white

Methodology

Using the definitional criteria outlined above, Schildkraut and Elsass created a comprehensive dataset of mass shootings in the United States. Identifying potential events through media accounts, existing databases, and web searches, they cross-referenced each shooting through at least three sources to ensure that it aligned with the definition. …

Source:
Schildkraut, J., & Elsass, H. J. (2016). Mass shootings: Media, myths, and realities. Praeger.