Mass Shooting Statistics in the US by Race and Ethnicity (updated December 2023)

Mass shootings in the U.S. are often carried out by male perpetrators, who typically plan thoroughly and are heavily armed. The motivations behind these attacks vary, including grievances and extremist beliefs. Key factors contributing to gun violence in the U.S. include easy access to firearms, inadequate gun legislation influenced by political factors, and racial tensions. These tensions encompass both black-on-white and white-on-white crimes.

Deadliest Mass Shootings Statistics United States

• The LA dance studio mass shooting occurred on January 21-22, 2023, in Monterey Park, California, during a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration. The perpetrator, a 72-year-old man named Tran, killed eleven people and injured nine others at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio. This incident was particularly notable for its rarity, as mass shootings by individuals over 70 are exceedingly uncommon.
  reuters.com
• The Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which occurred on May 24, 2022, was a tragic event that resulted in the deaths of 19 students and two teachers. The response of law enforcement, which involved a delay of about 1 hour and 15 minutes before confronting the shooter, has been widely criticized and is the subject of ongoing investigations and reporting.
  texastribune.org
• Las Vegas (October 1, 2017) – Stephen Paddock is one of the most infamous white mass shooters in American history. He killed 58 and wounded over 800 during a country music festival in Las Vegas. The killing orgy perpetrated by this 64-year old retiree lasted only 10 minutes. His arsenal included 23 semi-automatic rifles, revolver and bolt action rifle. 12 of these were fitted with bump stocks for firing in rapid sequence. (history.com)
• Orlando, Florida (June 11, 2016) – Omar Mateen, is another of the notorious white mass shooters. Mateen was armed with a Sig Sauer semi-automatic rifle and 9mm semi-automatic Glock pistol. Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 53 before being killed by responding police officers. (npr.org)
• Sutherland Springs, Texas (November 5, 2017) – Devin Patrick Kelley is also among the ill-famed American white mass shooters. He mortally shot 26 Baptist church-goers including an unborn baby and wounded 20 others. Kelley, formerly with the United States Air Force, used a Ruger AR-556 semi-automatic rifle. (edition.cnn.com)
• Parkland, Florida (February 14, 2018) – 19-year old Nikolas Cruz, killed 17 adults and children at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. One of many white mass murderers, Cruz was expelled from that school for unnamed reasons. Cruz used a semi-automatic rifle and fled before being arrested by police. (scmp.com)

All further information on this statistic can be found at Statista

Incidents Involving a Black Mass Shooter

• Garden City, New York (December 3, 1993) – Colin Ferguson, a black mass shooter, opened fire on a jam-packed Long Island train. He killed six people and injured 19 with a 9 mm pistol. Ferguson’s lawyers attributed the mass killing to ‘black rage’ racism as defense. The killer was sentenced to 315 years in prison for his crime.(theroot.com)
• Virginia Beach (May 21, 2019) – DeWayne Craddock, a black mass shooter, shot 12 unsuspecting individuals in the Virginia Beach municipal building. The dissatisfied employee used two .45 caliber pistols purchased legally in his murderous rampage.
• Rockmart, Georgia (January 24, 2019) – Daylon Delon Gamble shot three people in Rockmart, Georgia, and two others in another place. Gamble’s victims included his cousin and mother who all died. The killer was apprehended in Indiana and is currently on trial. (abcnews.go.com)

Mass Shooters by Race & Ethnicity

Whites Outnumber Blacks

Take a look at these figures published by the Statista Research Department in May 2020:

• White American shooters perpetrated 64 of the 118-mass shooting by race incidents in the country. All these events took place between 1982 and February 2020.
• The active-shooter statistics also revealed there were 20 blacks, 10 Latinos, and eight Asians. The rest were five (others), six (unknown/unclear), and three were native Americans.
• According to active shooter statistics, most of these incidents happened in schools and populated places.
• Mass shooting statistics in the United States showed 48% of Americans share a common belief. There is an urgent need to improve the country’s mental health system.
• 61% of Americans also blame mass shootings on easy access to firearms in the US.

The Las Vegas shooting in 2017 had the highest number of victims. A total of 58 died and more than 500 were wounded. (statista.com)

Mass Shootings & Gun Violence

Race of Mass Shooters

According to a published book, 520 Americans were killed during mass shootings by race. 

• The author also revealed that 100,000 people were victims of urban gun violence. 
• A separate survey also showed that 80% of blacks consider gun violence as serious.
• Meanwhile, 57% of blacks believe the government does not care about gun violence in colored neighborhoods.(projects.publicsource.org)

Several mass shootings have plagued the United States between the years 2009 and 2018. Mass murderers usually suffer from mental conditions and domestic violence or agitated by hate-driven ideologies. Said crimes, as well as hate crimes, are often attributed to weak gun laws and the cheap cost of guns. However, there are interventions can be implemented to prevent or reduce the proliferation of mass shootings. These possible interventions will be briefly discussed in succeeding sections.

Blacks versus Whites

There are different revelations gathered from mass shooting statistics in the United States. One is the issue of nationality vs race where both blacks and whites are involved. Take the case of the biggest mass shooting that occurred in New York City. This took place in July 27, 2019 at the Brownsville Section of Brooklyn. It resulted in the death of a 38-year old man and wounding of 11 others. Two suspects (both of them blacks) are the suspected gunmen allegedly gang members. Recent mass shootings by race also happened in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. These incidents underscore a decades-long issue which is gun violence in urban ‘colored communities.’ It may not be a mass shooting in its strictest sense. Yet one thing is clear and that is the enmity between races. It could be blacks against blacks or black on white violence. The bottom line is people got killed or injured because of the dastardly act.

Black on Black Crime Statistics CDC

The CDC revealed the following figures on black-on-black crime from 2015 until 2016:

• The age-adjusted homicide rate for total population rose from 5.7 to 6.2 per 100,000 population.
• The rate went up 20.9 to 22.8 or 9.1% for non-Hispanic blacks.
• The homicide rate for non-Hispanic blacks was around eight times more than other races.(cdc.gov)

These figures are not related to black on black crime statistics CDC. This indicates the high incidence of crimes committed by black people. Yet, the United States Justice Department bared surprising data. Only around two percent of black males commit violent crimes yearly. Here is another unexpected figure from the justice department regarding black on white violence. Poor urban whites have higher violence rates against whites (56.4) compared to blacks (51.3) per 1,000. (phillytrib.com)

Active Shooter Statistics and Incidents

In the United States, active shooter statistics have become more common in the past years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation pointed out an increase in incidents from 2000 until 2013. In succeeding studies, the Bureau recorded 20 such incidents from 2014 to 2017. This was followed by 30 in 2017 and 27 the following year. The increase in active shooter statistics means that the US has a growing race of mass shooters. It is worth looking at a research study made in 2018 by Rand Corporation. This entity is a non-profit think tank for global policy established in 1948. Rand was created by Douglas Aircraft Company to provide research for the American Armed Forces. The research brief stated these enlightening ideas regarding mass murderers referring to shooting perpetrators:

“Chance variability in the annual number of mass shooting incidents makes it challenging to discern clear trends. Trend estimates will be sensitive to outliers and to the time frame chosen for analysis.”(pewresearch.org)

Interventions to Curb Mass Shooters by Race

With regards to possible interventions, the goal is to reduce the incidence of the following: 

• black on white crime
• white on white crime
• mass murderers
• mass shooters by race

Recommended Interventions

1. Focus on gun safety through the implementation of practical gun laws and safety culture. Stringent legislation on firearms will lessen access to firearms and possibly mass shooters by race.
2. Make sure the gun industry is held accountable for the sales of firearms and ammunition.
3. Require firearms’ owners to practice prudence in the use of firearms. Make it mandatory for them to follow rules on safe gun storage.
4. Accept that gun violence can produce mass murderers if not properly addressed by authorities.
5. Formulate safety plans for communities as well as support for prevention and intervention programs.(preventioninstitute.org)

An Epilogue – Research on Gun Violence

Government agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have resources to conduct research. These institutions can conduct studies on relevant issues and offer science-based direction and regulation. For example, CDC studies can focus on the psychological problems of American shooters. It can conduct deeper analyses on the subject of nationality vs race. In short, CDC can do extensive research on the problem of mass shootings. In like manner, the public health agency can study factors affecting white on white crime. In the end, the citizenry can look forward to an all-inclusive health program and system. With sufficient support from stakeholders, the goal to control mass shootings can be attained. This approach does not rely on the government and the justice system alone. Communities, schools, religious sects, parents, and the general public must be involved.