With two high-profile attacks in California and others across the nation, the month that just ended set a grim record: the worst January yet for mass shootings.
It was the worst January, in fact, both in terms of frequency and number of fatalities, according to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), which started tracking mass shootings in 2014.
On Jan. 21, a shooter opened fire on people celebrating the Lunar New Year in Monterey Park, California. Two days later and about 400 miles north, another gunman went on a shooting spree targeting workers at two farms in Half Moon Bay. The killings claimed 18 lives and left two communities deeply grieving lost loved ones.
The GVA defines mass shootings as events with four or more people shot, either killed or injured, not including the shooter. This year already, 87 have died, more than double this time last year and up overall from 45 at the end of January 2019.
The high total of people killed is tied to the record number of mass shootings. Last month, GVA logged 52 incidents and only eight days with no mass shootings. In January 2022, there were 34; previously January totals ranged from 11 to 32.
Notably, in the U.S. there’s no agreed-upon definition of the term “mass shooting,” so totals vary by organization. In contrast to the GVA, Congress defines a “mass killing” as three or more people killed (excluding the shooter) and the FBI collects data on active shooter incidents, which it defines as “one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.” The FBI reported 61 in 2021, the most recent data available.
The GVA’s numbers tend to be higher than other lists for two reasons. First, it includes victims who are injured and not just fatalities. Second, it includes all shootings where at least four people were shot, regardless of circumstance, and this can include gang-related activity and domestic violence.
On the whole, the GVA data is clear that more Americans are dying of gun-related injuries. Looking at yearly statistics, there were 648 mass shootings in 2022, slightly down from 690 in 2021 but significantly up from 272 in 2014. The toll on human life is immense: last year, 676 people were killed and 2,702 injured.
In the last decade, every state has reported a mass shooting except Hawaii and North Dakota.
