(Newswire.net — September 26, 2014) — The study looked at 160 shootings since 2000. In the past 13 years, 486 people have been killed in such shootings, with 366 of the deaths in the past seven years.
The study shows that there were, on average, 16.4 such shootings a year from 2007 to 2013, compared with an average of 6.4 shootings annually from 2000 to 2006. Shootings tied to domestic violence and gangs were not included.
In all, many of the sprees ended before the police arrived, the report said. In 44 of the 64 cases in which the FBI was able to determine the length of the shooting, the gunfire lasted less than five minutes. Twenty-three shootings ended in less than two minutes. In 64 of the 160 total cases, the gunmen committed suicide.
The report was prompted by the spate of mass shootings in recent years, like those at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in which 20 children were killed after which President Obama announced that administration and law enforcement officials would study how the country could stop the shootings from occurring.
There was a widespread belief that the number of shootings had risen significantly, but the federal government had no uniform way of tracking them. As part of the administration’s efforts, the FBI, which keeps track of national crime statistics, was asked to determine whether the shootings had increased.
According to the FBI, the report was the first time that the federal government had determined the number of mass shootings over a significant period of time,
Academics had previously tried to quantify mass shootings by using news media reports. In the new study, the FBI relied on court documents, reports from all of its 56 field offices, and news media reports.
The report raised questions about the effect the mass shootings are having on law enforcement officers who respond to the grisly scenes. It also reinforced one of the recommendations from the administration’s study: that local officers need to be better trained and equipped to stop gunmen intent on slaughter.
In 21 of 45 shootings in which officers confronted the gunmen, nine officers were killed and 28 were wounded, but officers killed the gunmen at the scene in 21 of the cases.
Four officers were killed in ambushes, and in three cases, armed security guards who were not law enforcement officers were killed. In two other shootings, two unarmed security officers were killed and two were wounded.
Nine gunmen who exchanged fire with the police committed suicide, and two surrendered.
Just two of the 160 shootings involved more than one gunman, and six of the killers were women. Two of the twelve shootings that occurred at colleges or universities were by women.
Roughly 45 percent of the shootings occurred in offices or stores, and about 25 percent at schools or universities. Other sites included military bases, government offices, homes, places of worship and medical facilities. In 24 of the 160 shootings, the gunmen attacked more than one location.
Mass shootings occurred in all but 10 states, but the most deadly shooting occurred at Virginia Tech in 2007, the report says. In that shooting, 32 people were killed and 17 were wounded.
The team of agents and analysts who worked on the study said they would use the numbers as a baseline in studying other shooting trends.