The fatal shooting of four people in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday became the latest contribution to a record-setting year for U.S. mass shootings, according to James Alan Fox, a Northeastern professor who has studied the phenomena for more than four decades. A 34-year-old man was charged on Wednesday, one day after allegedly firing at four locations in the Texas capital. The suspect may also be involved in two previous deaths near San Antonio, police said.
There have now been 39 mass shootings with at least four victim fatalities in 2023, according to Fox — three more than the U.S. record established last year. Additionally, says Fox, the Texas shootings amounted to the 42nd instance of a mass killing this year, leaving the U.S. four tragic events short of eclipsing its 2019 record.
Fox presides over the Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Killing Database, the longest-running and most extensive data source on the subject. It reveals that 2,989 people have died in 574 mass killings since 2006.
