At least 322 mass shootings in United States so far this year
It seems like every week, at times almost every day, when we open up the newspaper, we read about yet another tragic mass shooting in the United States.
One can't help but wonder just how many shootings have there been in the United States of America so far this year? According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 322 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2022 so far, only seven months into the year.
As definitions of what constitutes a mass shooting vary, a comprehensive list of mass shootings on Wikipedia indicates that there may have in fact been 337 mass shootings so far in 2022.
According to the definition of a mass shooting by the non-profit research group The Gun Violence Archive, a mass shooting is any incident where four or more people are shot or killed, not including the attacker.
The FBI, for example, does not even use the term "mass shooting" but rather the broader term "mass murder" whenever four or more victims are killed (not including the perpetrator) in one location and one event.
The statistics available on the Gun Violence Archive website are staggering and almost unbelievable. So far, in 2022, as of July 12, there have been 23,370 deaths in the U.S. due to gun violence.
184 children between the ages of 0-11 have been killed and 384 more injured by firearms.
When it comes to teens between the ages of 12-17, a jaw-dropping 703 have lost their lives to gun violence, and 1,881 teens have been injured so far in 2022.
Anyone who claims that America doesn't have a gun problem certainly isn't reading the news. We wanted to do a gallery on every single mass shooting that has occurred in the United States this year....
But as the Washington Post reports, "There are too many mass shootings for the U.S. media to cover." Instead, we've collected the data for each month so far and will continue to update it as the year goes by.
The year started off on a tragic note, on January 1st alone there were a total of 8 mass shootings across the United States. On the first day of the year 5 people died and 35 were injured as a result of mass shootings.
In total, in the first month of 2022, there were 41 mass shootings in which 59 people died and 128 more were injured.
In February there were a total of 43 mass shootings in which 40 people lost their lives and another 174 were wounded.
Of the 43 mass shootings one of the most tragic was when a man shot his own children, their chaperone, and then himself in a church in California resulting in 5 deaths. In addition a shooting occurred in a high school and another outside of an Italian restaurant where Justin Bieber was hosting a party.
Things didn't get any better in March 2022, as there were a total of 52 mass shootings in various locations in the United States. 47 people died and 217 were injured as a result.
While there were incidents with a higher death count, one of the more disturbing incidents was a shooting at a car show in Dumas, Arkansas on March 19. 26 people were injured when a man opened fire, at least ten of those injured were children.
Photo: North West Arkansas News
Perhaps as the months get warmer tempers flare? In April of 2022 there were 66 mass shootings, 14 more than in March. In April 75 people died and 271 were injured because of the 66 mass shootings that occurred.
One of the more shocking events was when a 23 year old man shot at people at Edmund Burke School sniper style. The school is located in Washington, DC, and one child and three adults were injured. The shooter took his own life when police entered his home.
May was a particularly tragic month in the United States. With 67 mass shootings in which 87 people died, and 324 were injured.
All mass shootings are tragic events but two events occurred in May were horrific. The Buffalo supermarket shooting in which a white supremacist killed 10 unsuspecting shoppers and the 22 lives taken by a lone gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, many of which were children, left the nation in a state of shock.
In June of 2022, 281 people were injured because of the 68 mass shootings that took place and another 80 people died.
Of all the shootings in June, the Philadelphia shooting on June 4 claimed the most victims. 3 were killed and 11 injured by multiple shooters on South Street.
Photo: Wion News
As of July 12, 2022 there have been 36 mass shootings in the US. On July the 4th, a day of celebration across the nation there were a shocking 12 mass shooting throughout the country.
During the Highland Park Independence Day parade a truly shocking incident occurred when a gunman opened fire from a rooftop. The shooter took the lives of 7 people and injured 25 more, including the elderly and children who were watching the parade.