On the afternoon of Saturday, May 14, 2022, an 18-year old white man armed with an assault-style rifle opened fire at a grocery store parking lot in Buffalo, New York. The rampage, which was live-streamed by the shooter and appears to have been racially motivated, continued inside the store. By the time the gunman surrendered to police, 10 people were killed and three wounded.
Mass shootings – defined as shooting events in which four or more people are shot or killed, not including the perpetrator – are on the rise in the United States. According to Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit organization that tracks gun violence in the United States, the annual number of mass shootings has more than doubled since 2018, when there were 336 incidents. In 2021, there were 693 mass shootings. (Murders overall have increased by record levels. These are the states where murder rate is soaring.)
The recent tragedy now ranks among the deadliest mass shooting events in U.S. history. Since the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School, there have been 21 mass shootings that have resulted in 10 or more deaths – and the Buffalo shooting is the latest.
Using the GVA archive database as well as local media reports, 24/7 Wall St. identified the deadliest mass shootings since Columbine.
Though the time period in question spans over two decades, nearly half of the shootings on this list have taken place in the last five years. (Gun sales have been increasing in the past few years, although they seem to have peaked. Gun sales plunged, here’s each state’s figure.)
Click here to see the deadliest mass shootings since the Columbine massacre
Click here to read our detailed methodology
