Active shooter incidents in the U.S. jumped by more than 50% in 2021 compared to 2020 and resulted in a higher number of deaths in such incidents since 2017, the FBI says in a new report.
The bureau counted 61 active shooter incidents in 30 states in 2021, up from 40 incidents in the previous year.
FBI officials defined an active shooter incident as a situation in which “one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.”
The incidents in 2021 resulted in 103 people killed and 140 wounded, a casualty total that is 48% higher than in 2020 though similar to the 2019 total.
Last year’s tally, however, marked the highest number of deaths in active shooter events since 2017, when 143 people were killed and 591 were wounded.
A mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas that year killed nearly 60 people.
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Also in 2021, “the FBI observed an emerging trend involving roving active shooters; specifically, shooters who shoot in multiple locations, either in one day or in various locations over several days,” reads the report released Monday.
A gunman targeted Asian women at multiple Atlanta-area spas last year, for instance, and a shooting spree in Phoenix last June left one man dead and multiple others injured.
The U.S. is grappling with a string of active shooter incidents this year.
A gunman targeted Black shoppers at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, on May 14, killing 10 persons.
On Tuesday, a gunman opened fire in a Texas elementary school, killing 19 children and two teachers.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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