The latest mass killing in the United States took place on Saturday night when three children aged 8, 9 and 14, and a 21-year-old man were killed in a shooting during a boy’s birthday party in California. Eleven people were also injured at a Stockton banquet hall.
This is the country’s 17th mass murder this year. The murders are tracked in a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
At least 81 people have died this year in mass killings in the United States, which are defined as cases in which four or more people die in a 24-hour period, not including the killer — the same definition used by the FBI.
So far this year, 14 out of 17 recorded mass murders (82%) involved a firearm. Shooting victims make up 81% of the 3,234 mass killing victims since 2006.
Last year ended with at least 165 deaths from at least 38 mass murders.
Here’s a look at other mass murders in the United States this year:
ST. HELENA ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, October 12
Four people were killed and 15 others were injured in a shooting during a high school reunion party in a bar on Sant’Elena Island. A man accused in the shooting and another man, who was killed, had a disagreement and started shooting at each other, the authorities said. Investigators found evidence of a third shooter and said they expect more arrests.
LELAND, MISSISSIPPI, October 10
A shooting after a high school football game in a small Mississippi Delta town has left seven people dead. Authorities have not released a possible motive for the shooting in Leland, but the FBI says it may have been “sparked by a disagreement between several individuals.” At least nine people were arrested, several of them accused of capital murder.
GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN, September 28th
A man opened fire in a Michigan church and set it on fire, leaving four people dead and the church burned to the ground. The FBI said the gunman, who was killed by responding law enforcement, was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. MERLIN, OREGON, August 11
Police say two adults and three children have died in a murder-suicide in southern Oregon. The children were 11, 9 and 7 years old. Police found the bodies in a house near Grants Pass after one of the victims did not show up for work.
ANACONDA, MONTANA, August 1st
Four people were fatally shot at a bar in a small town about 75 miles (120 kilometers) southeast of Missoula. The man accused of the murder eluded capture for a week.
TIPTONVILLE, TENNESSEE, July 29
The parents, grandmother and uncle of a baby found abandoned in a front yard were shot in a wooded area about 40 miles (65 kilometers) away. The man accused of the murder was the boyfriend of the baby’s grandmother’s sister, the authorities said.
NEW YORK CITY, July 28
A gun-wielding man shot dead four people in a Midtown Manhattan building that houses financial companies and the NFL headquarters. The victims included an off-duty New York City police officer. The gunman wounded the fifth person before taking his own life.
TALLADEGA, ALABAMA, July 5th
Three men and a woman were killed in an apartment. The bodies were discovered when police followed a call about a missing woman. A friend of one of the victims was arrested.
CHICAGO, July 2
Two men and two women were killed and 14 others were wounded in a drive-by shooting as people left an album release party. The Police said that the driver fled immediately, and no one was arrested.
CHICAGO, June 26
The Police said that a sad man with a friend and his ex-girlfriend set fire to the building which killed four other people. The fire started with petrol and a lighter.
MINNEAPOLIS, April 29
Four people were shot inside a vehicle and died in the Phillips neighborhood of south Minneapolis. A suspect was arrested and charged a few days later.
PERRY, GEORGIA, April 4
Three adults, ages 82, 51 and 37, and a 2-year-old boy were found dead in a mobile home in Perry, a rural town about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Macon. The authorities said that three of the victims had been stabbed and one of them had been strangled. A man was arrested in May and charged with the murder, officials said.
HALLANDALE HOME, FLORIDA: March 26th
A man fatally shot his estranged girlfriend and three of her children before turning the gun on himself at a south Florida residence, according to local reports. The man, father of two of the children, later died in hospital. The fourth boy was shot but survived.
LAKE STATION, INDANA, 21 February
The deaths of a mother and her three daughters, ages 4, 6 and 7, who were found fatally shot at a home in Lake Station, about 34 miles (55 kilometers) southeast of Chicago, have been ruled homicides, according to local reports. The woman’s husband was also found fatally shot and his death was ruled a suicide.
BYRON, WYOMING, February 10
According to the officials, a woman fatally shot her four daughters, who range between 2 and 9 years old, before shooting herself. Officials said three of the girls died that day and the fourth daughter and their mother died later, according to local reports.
NEW ORLEANS, January 1st
A driver plowed into a partying crowd in New Orleans’ French Quarter district at 3:15 a.m. on New Year’s Day, killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens, authorities said. The driver, an American citizen from Texas, died in a shootout with the police. The FBI called the attack an act of terrorism.