Tennessean, March 2021
Mass shootings in Tennessee increased to 19 in 2020 from seven the year before, while nationally mass shootings jumped nearly 50% during a pandemic with crippling unemployment, violent protests and idle youth.
In 2020, Tennessee reported 19 mass shootings that killed nine and injured 85. A year earlier, the state had seven mass shootings that killed three and injured 32.
Among Tennessee’s deadliest shootings last year was one Sept. 13 in Manchester that killed three and injured three. The state’s bloodiest shootings included one Nov. 8 in Nashville that injured eight.
With COVID-19 cases falling and vaccines rolling out, some criminologists hope a rebounding economy and reopened schools will drive down the national numbers in 2021.
Early results are promising, says Mark Bryant, founder of the non-profit Gun Violence Archive, which tracks gun incident trends. In the first seven weeks of this year, there have been 63 mass shootings — defined as four or more people injured or killed in one incident — which if continued would show a drop from 2020, he said.
