U.S. approaching 340 mass shootings this year after deadly weekend
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Community members gathered at a candlelight vigil in August. Photo: Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images.
Twelve people were killed, and at least 40 people were injured after shootings marred three different high school events in two states over the weekend.
The big picture: The shootings mark another devastating weekend in America, and underscore the pervasiveness of gun violence across the country.
Driving the news: Four people were killed and at least 20 were injured at a high school alumni event on the South Carolina coast early Sunday morning, according to a statement from the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.
- Separate shootings following high school football games in Mississippi left 20 people injured and eight dead, including a pregnant woman.
What they're saying: Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves called the shootings "senseless acts of violence" in a post on X Saturday.
- "Our state is praying for the victims and their families," he said. "Those responsible will be brought to justice."
- The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office said "hundreds of people" were present when the shooting occurred in a news release on Sunday.
- "This is a tragic and difficult incident for everyone. We ask for your patience as we continue to investigate this incident. Our thoughts are with all of the victims and their loved ones," the office said.
By the numbers: 337 mass shootings have occurred so far this year in the U.S. as of Oct. 11, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
- Any incident involving more than four people being shot, not including the shooter, is considered a mass shooting by GVA standards.
- There is no standard definition for what constitutes a mass shooting, but Axios has consistently used GVA's definition in its analysis and coverage of mass shootings and gun violence in recent years.
Worth noting: The U.S. is far from the 689 mass shootings that occurred in 2022, which is the most GVA has charted since it began tracking gun violence totals in 2013.
- On its website, GVA also notes that mass shootings are, by and large, an "American phenomenon."
Zoom in: One in 15 Americans has witnessed a mass shooting firsthand, according to a University of Colorado Boulder study reviewed by Axios' Alayna Alvarez earlier this year.
- The survey of 10,000 U.S. adults reported that 2% of survivors were injured, whether by shrapnel or the chaos of fleeing the scene, and more than 75% who said they were uninjured still suffered psychological distress.
- Over half of the respondents who've witnessed a mass shooting said it happened within the past decade.
Zoom out: "It's not a question of if one will occur in your community anymore, but when," senior study author David Pyrooz said in a statement in March.
- "This study confirms that mass shootings are not isolated tragedies, but rather a reality that reaches a substantial portion of the population, with profound physical and psychological consequences," he said, noting that people who grew up in the aftermath of Columbine are a part of a "mass shooting generation."
- He also called for additional support for the most affected groups and highlighted the need for stronger support programs aimed at reducing gun violence.
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