Perspective: Mass shootingsA Guide to Understanding Mass Shootings in America
Saturday’s mass shooting in Texas came hours after nine teenagers were wounded by gunfire at a high school football game in Alabama, and just weeks after the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio. Fifty-one people died in mass shootings in August alone, according to a New York Times analysis using one definition of mass murder by homicide. The Gun Violence Archive lists nearly 10,000 victims of fatal gun violence for 2019 so far, excluding most suicides. The editorial team of The Trace offers the big picture on mass shootings in America, and how they fit into our country’s epidemic of gun violence.
A traffic stop on a Texas highway quickly escalated into a rolling mass shooting that left at least seven people dead, 21 injured, and terrorized residents of two cities as police frantically pursued the gunman.
The shooting spree began Saturday afternoon, shortly after 3 pm local time, when the suspect opened fire with a rifle on state troopers as they were pulling him over, wounding one of the officers. The gunman, described by law enforcement as a white man in his 30s, then drove into the city of Odessa, shooting motorists, residents, and shoppers.
At one point, the shooter abandoned his vehicle and hijacked a mail van, briefly leading to reports that two suspects may be at large. Businesses in Odessa and neighboring Midland went on lockdown as police officers urged people to stay in doors and diverted drivers off roadways. A local TV station was evacuated while its reporters covered the chaos live on air.
The rampage ended outside a movie theater, where the police shot and killed the gunman. Before the shooting stopped, two other officers were injured. A toddler, struck in the face by a bullet fragment, was among the victims rushed to local hospitals for treatment. A local school district reported that one of its students is among the dead.
The editorial team of The Trace notes that Saturday’s mass shooting came hours after nine teenagers were wounded by gunfire at a high school football game in Alabama, and just weeks after the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio. Fifty-one people died in mass shootings in August alone, according to a New York Times analysis using one definition of mass murder by homicide. The Gun Violence Archive lists nearly 10,000 victims of fatal gun violence for 2019 so far, excluding most suicides.
The Trace offers the big picture on mass shootings in America, and how they fit into our country’s epidemic of gun violence.
