Three months, 137 mass shootings, 171 lives lost

In the three months since a shooter killed five people in Raleigh’s Hedingham community — from Oct. 13 to Jan. 13 — the United States has seen 137 mass shootings. That’s more than one a day on average.

The shootings left 171 people dead.

The nonprofit Gun Violence Archives tracks them by day, defining a mass shooting as any incident with four or more victims, not including the shooter and not necessarily involving fatal injuries.

In the first week following Hedingham:

▪ 12 mass shootings were recorded, killing 11 people, including four at a house in Woodbridge, Va.;

▪ between Oct. 21 and Oct. 27, 16 mass shootings happened nationwide, including six people in a Wisconsin murder-suicide;

▪ between Oct. 28 and Nov. 3, 16 mass shootings were logged, including five on the same day, Oct. 30;

▪ between Nov. 4 and Nov. 10, the country experienced nine mass shootings, including five in a quadruple murder-suicide in Maryland;

▪ from Nov. 11 to Nov. 17, 10 mass shootings were recorded, including a single fatality with five injuries in Enfield, NC.;

▪ from Nov. 18 to Nov. 24, 12 mass shootings were recorded, including seven people killed at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va.;

▪ between Nov. 25 and Dec. 1, the country experienced eight mass shootings, including three on the same day, Nov. 26;

▪ from Dec. 2 to Dec 8, three people died in five mass shootings nationwide;

▪ from Dec. 9 to Dec. 15, the United States logged five mass shootings that killed five people;

▪ between Dec. 15 and Dec. 22, eight mass shootings were recorded, including four on the same day, Dec. 16.

▪ between Dec. 23 and Dec. 30, 10 mass shootings were logged nationwide, but none of them on Christmas Day.

▪ from Dec. 31 to Jan. 6, the nation saw 17 mass shootings, including five people injured in a drive-by in Durham;

▪ from Jan. 7 to Hedingham’s three-month anniversary on Jan. 13, another eight mass shootings were recorded.

This story was originally published February 10, 2023 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Three months, 137 mass shootings, 171 lives lost."

Josh Shaffer

The News & Observer

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Josh Shaffer is a general assignment reporter on the watch for “talkers,” which are stories you might discuss around a water cooler. He has worked for The News & Observer since 2004 and writes a column about unusual people and places.