A teenage gunman has killed 19 children and two adults at a primary school in south Texas, in what is the deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade.
There have been 212 mass shootings so far in the United States this year, according to a tally by US non-profit Gun Violence Archive – which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are shot or killed, not including the attacker.
Despite frequent mass shootings, attempts in the US to enact gun control legislation have long been frustrated by a powerful gun lobby.
Speaking from the White House after the Texas school shooting, President Joe Biden, said: “As a nation, we have to ask, ‘When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?’”
Below is a list of major mass shootings in the US over the last 10 years:
May 14, 2022: Buffalo, NY – A white gunman killed 10 Black people at a supermarket in a racially motivated attack. He was charged and remains in jail without bail.
April 12, 2022: New York City, NY – 23 people were wounded when a 62-year-old man activated a smoke bomb and opened fire in a subway. He was taken into custody the next day.
November 30, 2021: Oxford, MI – Four students were killed and seven other people were wounded after a teenager opened fire at a high school in Oxford, in the north of Detroit.
April 16, 2021: Indianapolis, IN – A former FedEx employee who had been under psychiatric care shot eight people dead and injured several others at an Indiana facility of the shipping company before taking his own life.
March 31, 2021: Los Angeles, CA – Four people were killed, one of them a child, in a shooting at an office building in suburban Los Angeles before the suspect was taken into custody.
March 22, 2021: Boulder, CO – A mass shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado left 10 people dead, including a police officer.
March 16, 2021: Atlanta, GA – Eight people, including six women of Asian descent, were shot dead in a string of attacks at day spas in and around Atlanta. A white male suspect was arrested.
February 26, 2020: Milwaukee, WI – A gunman opened fire at the Molson Coors Beverage Co brewing complex in Milwaukee, killing five co-workers before he died by suicide.
August 4, 2019: Dayton, OH – A gunman dressed in body armour opened fire in downtown Dayton, Ohio, killing nine people including his sister. Police killed the attacker.
August 3, 2019: El Paso, TX – A man fatally shot 22 people at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas. A statement, believed to have been written by the suspect, called the attack “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas”. Authorities arrested the gunman.
May 31, 2019: Virginia Beach, VA – A public utility employee opened fire on co-workers at a municipal building in Virginia, killing 12 people before he was fatally shot by police.
February 15, 2019: Aurora, IL – A man opened fire at an Illinois factory after being fired, killing five workers before he was killed by police.
November 7, 2018: Thousand Oaks, CA – A former Marine combat veteran killed 12 people in a bar in Thousand Oaks, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. He then killed himself.
October 27, 2018: Pittsburgh, PA – A gunman burst into the Tree of Life synagogue near Pittsburgh and fired on congregants gathered for a Shabbat service, killing 11.
May 18, 2018: Santa Fe, TX – A 17-year-old student opened fire at his high school outside Houston, Texas, killing nine students and a teacher, before surrendering to officers.
February 14, 2018: Parkland, FL – A former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killed 17 students and educators.
November 5, 2017: Sutherland Springs, TX – A man thrown out of the US Air Force for beating his wife and child shot 26 people dead at a rural Texas church where his in-laws worshipped before killing himself.
October 1, 2017: Las Vegas, NV – A gunman opened fire on a country music festival from a 32nd-floor hotel suite, killing 58 people before taking his own life.
June 12, 2016: Orlando, FL – A gunman fatally shot 49 people at Pulse, a gay nightclub, before he was shot dead by police.
December 2, 2015: San Bernardino, CA – A husband and wife killed 14 people at a workplace holiday party in San Bernardino in Southern California before dying in a shoot-out with police.
October 1, 2015: Roseburg, OR – A gunman stalked onto an Oregon college campus and opened fire, killing nine people before police shot him to death.
June 17, 2015: Charleston, SC – A white supremacist killed nine Black churchgoers at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. He was sentenced to death.
September 16, 2013: Washington, DC – A former Navy reservist working as a government contractor killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard. He was shot dead by police.
December 14, 2012: Newtown, CT – A heavily armed gunman killed 26 people, including 20 children from five-to10-years old, in a rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
July 20, 2012: Aurora, CO – A masked gunman killed 12 people at a cinema in Aurora, Colorado. He received multiple life sentences.
