Among high-income countries around the world, the United States has for years stood out for one reason: its rate of gun violence.
Over the last decade, among relatively wealthy countries with populations of 10m or more, the rate of gun violence in the US has far surpassed that of any other nation. According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the adjusted firearm homicide rate in the US is 22 times that of the European Union and more than that of Asian countries like Japan and the Republic of Korea.
This year is on track to be no different. According to data from the Gun Violence Archive, there have as of mid-April already been 149 mass shootings in the US — with gun violence claiming lives in every state in the country.
As in a number of other years, including 2022, some of the most visible gun violence in the US this year has taken place at schools. In February, a shooting at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan left three students dead and five other people injured. In late March, a mass shooting at a Christian school in Nashville claimed six lives.
Other gunmen may have been targeting certain ethnic communities: in January in Half Moon Bay, California, a shooting at a dancehall in a predominantly Asian-American area left 11 people dead. Two days later, another mass shooting in nearby Monterey Bay, California killed seven more people.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, shootings have already claimed more than 11,000 lives in total in the US in 2023, with more than 6,000 people using a gun to die by suicide. Another 9,000 people have been injured in a shooting so far this year.
The Gun Violence Archive’s definition holds that mass shootings include at least four people either injured or killed, not including the shooter.
Despite the prevalance of gun violence this year and in recent years in the US, there has not been a renewed push to tighten the country’s liberal gun laws in Congress since a bipartisan group of legislators introduced and passed a modest array of reforms after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas last year.
On a state level, a number of states have moved over the last year to remove barriers to purchasing and carrying firearms. Last year, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, Tennessee, Texas and Utah all passed laws to no longer require people to hold a permit to carry a firearm, while legislators in states like Georgia and Ohio have moved to pass similar laws this year.
A select number of other states have gone in the other direction: voters in Oregon, for example, narrowly approved a ballot measure last year to require permits to purchase a firearm and ban magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
Here’s a list of the most deadly shootings in the last year:
Dadeville, Alabama
The shooting unfolded at a “Sweet 16” birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama, leaving four people dead and a further 28 injured.
According to local police, the shooting began at around 10.34pm on Saturday (15 April) during a celebration held at the Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio in downtown Dadeville, a small town of around 3,000 residents lying 45 miles northeast of Montgomery.
As of 18 April, no arrests have been made and authorities declined to speculate on the suspect or their possible motive.
The victims have been identified as Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, 18, Mersiah Collins, 19, Corbin Holston, 23, and KeKe Nicole Smith, 17.
Louisville, Kentucky
A 25-year-old employee opened fire at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, on 10 April, killing five people and injuring eight others while live streaming the attack.
The shooter, identified as bank employee Connor Sturgeon, entered the Old National Bank in the downtown area of the city at around 8.30am armed with an AR-15-style rifle.
He shot and killed four bank executives inside the first-floor conference room before exchanging gunfire with responding police officers. Louisville deputy police chief Paul Humphrey said that he was shot dead by officer fire.
A fifth victim later succumbed to her injuries in hospital. All five were executives at the bank.
The victims have now been identified as Joshua Barrick, Thomas Elliott, Juliana Farmer, James Tutt, and Deana Eckert.
Nashville, Tenessee
Three nine-year-old students and three staff members died after a shooting at a private Christian grade school in Nashville, Tennessee, on 27 March 2023.
The suspect, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, was also killed by police at The Covenant School in the Green Hills suburb of the city.
An illustrator and graphic designer who attended Nossi College of Art, Hale had no criminal record prior to the massacre and was not known to law enforcement.
Hale was a former student at Covenant. Over the course of their investigation, officers have discovered manifesto-like writings and apparent research into the facilities and entry points at Covenant.
Students Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all aged nine, Head of School Katherine Koonce, 60, Cynthia Peak, 61, and Mike Hill, 61, all died in the attack.
Koonce was The Covenant School’s headteacher. She ran towards the shooter before she was killed in a hallway.
Half Moon Bay, California
The mass shooting unfolded on 23 January, with seven victims killed across two agricultural business locations – a mushroom farm and a trucking facility.
The gunman, Chunli Zhao, shot dead four people at the Mountain Mushroom Farm, and killed another three victims at Concord Farms located around two miles away, according to authorities. He was a former employee at both farms.
The horror attack is believed to have been witnessed by many children, as many farm workers live on-site with their families.
Monterey Park, California
Huu Can Tran, 72, a one-time fixture at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, killed 11 people and wounded nine with a submachine gun-style semiautomatic handgun, on 21 January. He stormed inside the dance studio during the Lunar New Year celebrations and killed himself as police surrounded his van the next morning.
The victims were older Asian Americans, mostly in their 60s and 70s.
Chesapeake, Virginia
Andre Bing, a manager at a Walmart in Chesapeake, killed six and wounded six others during an employee meeting on 22 November 2022. He then shot himself.
Chesapeake officials released a chilling “death note” in which Bing complained that people “laughed at me and said I was like Jeffrey Dahmer”.
The long, rambling note was found on the 31-year-old mass shooter’s cellphone and released by Chesapeake officials – providing a glimpse into his motive behind the horror attack.
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Five people were killed and 17 wounded when a 22-year-old gunman allegedly opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle inside a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs. The suspect, who was subdued by patrons, is awaiting trial.
Authorities said that Anderson Lee Aldrich was seen pulling into a parking lot at Club Q just before midnight on 19 November 2022, where they entered and immediately opened fire.
Aldrich was charged with 305 criminal counts, including five counts of first-degree murder, five counts of committing a bias-motivated crime – or “hate” crime – and several charges of attempted murder and assault in the first-degree and second-degree.
Raleigh, North Carolina
Fifteen-year-old Austin Thompson allegedly killed five people and injured two more in a shooting in Raleigh on 13 October 2022. The suspect eluded officers for hours before he was cornered in a home and arrested.
The fatal victims were identified as Nicole Connors, 52, Susan Karnatz, 49, Mary Marshall, 35, Gabriel Torres, 29, James Thompson, 16. Thompson’s brother and a police officer were among the deceased.
Highland Park, Illinois
Six people were killed and at least 30 wounded when suspect Robert Crimo opened fire on an Independence Day parade on 4 July in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park.
According to police, Crimo had planned an attack for weeks and fired more than 80 rounds randomly into the crowd watching the parade.
Prosecutors also say Crimo made a “voluntary statement confessing to his actions” and revealed that the young man had made his way to Madison, Wisconsin, where he intended to commit another mass shooting but turned back.
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Three people died and 14 people were injured in a shooting on 5 June in front of a restaurant. Three people have been arrested.
Some 16 of the victims were adults and one was a minor. In total, fourteen people were shot, while three were hit by vehicles.
Philadelphia
Three people died and 11 others were injured on 4 June on a Philadelphia busy block during a melee that began with a fistfight and was followed by random gunfire. Two men, 34-year-old Rashann Vereen and 18-year-old Quran Garner, are in custody for two of the deaths; other people have also been arrested in connection with the melee.
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Gunman Michael Louis killed his surgeon and three other people at a medical office on 1 June 2022. The gunman killed himself as police arrived.
Uvalde, Texas
An 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School on 24 May in the deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade. More than 15 other people were wounded.
The violence began before Salvador Ramos even arrived at the grade school. According to police and family members, he shot his grandmother in the head and stole the family truck, before heading to Robb Elementary School.
Buffalo, New York
White gunman Peyton Grendon opened fire on 14 May 2022 at a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighbourhood, killing 10 people and injuring others.
The attack, which Gendron had planned for months, was carried out with an AR-15 rifle and streamed live. He was arrested immediately after the massacre.
Gendron drove around 200 miles from his home to the predominantly Black community to carry out the attack.
In November 2022, Gendron pleaded guilty to all state charges against him, convictions that guarantee a life prison sentence. He was officially sentenced in February.
He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree murder as a hate crime, and one count of domestic terrorism motivated by hate, among other charges.
