One of the deadliest years in the US is coming to an end: never before have so many mass murders been committed as in 2019. 211 people died in 41 attacks - a data collection by the news agency AP, the daily newspaper "USA Today" and Northeastern University in Boston shows , Overall, however, the number of homicides has decreased.
The data collection only records incidents in which four or more people were killed; the possibly killed perpetrators were not counted. Thirty-three of these attacks involved firearms killings, and others were carried out with knives, axes or arson.
Statistics have been kept since 2006, the year has since been the leader in mass murder statistics and was only surpassed this year. According to other research going back to the 1970s, there have never been so many mass murders in a year.
If only the number of fatalities is taken into account, 2017 tops the list with 224 victims; in the year, a gunman killed 13 people at a concert in Las Vegas. Each year, thousands of people die in the United States from firearm use that is not related to mass murder.
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Most offenders and victims know each other
The first mass murder in 2019 occurred just a few days after the New Year when a 42-year-old man used an ax to kill his mother, stepfather, girlfriend and baby (Oregon). It was one of 18 mass murders in which attackers killed their family members. Several fatal rampages followed in the summer:
- a former employee shot twelve people in the Virginia Beach city council
- a gunman kills 22 people in El Paso, Texas
- a gunman kills nine people in Dayton, Ohio
- a convicted man shoots seven people in Odessa, Texas
Nine mass shootings took place in public spaces, others in houses, at workplaces or in bars. It mostly affects people who know each other - it's about family disputes, drug or gang violence. However, the exact motives of the perpetrators often remained in the dark, as the data collection shows.
Although California has one of the strictest gun laws, this state tops the statistics with eight mass murders this year. Almost half of the U.S. has experienced at least one mass murder. Even so, the debate over gun laws in the United States has recently stalled.
While the Democrats are demanding stricter background controls and a federal ban on attack weapons, the state of Florida has now allowed teachers to carry firearms in class. A corresponding law entered into force on October 1, 39 school districts registered for a corresponding training program for the teachers.