Recent Surge in Mass Killings Across the United States in the Current Year – Sky Bulletin

In the latest incident adding to a troubling rise in mass killings, several masked gunmen attacked an outdoor gathering on a recent Sunday in King City, California. The assailants killed four individuals and injured seven at the event. Authorities arrived to discover three men fatally shot in a front yard and a woman who later succumbed to her injuries at a local hospital, located about 106 miles (170 kilometers) south of San Jose.

Witnesses reported that the men, concealing their identities with dark clothing and masks, alighted from a silver car and fired upon people at the party before fleeing the scene. This tragic event took place in King City, a small community of approximately 14,000 people, nestled in the southern Salinas Valley amidst farmland and near the expansive Fort Hunter Liggett military training base, not far from the Pinnacles National Park.

This marks the year’s 10th mass killing as tabulated by a database curated by The Associated Press, USA Today, and Northeastern University. The collective counts have reached 47 fatalities, defining mass killings as events where four or more individuals are killed within a 24-hour span, excluding the perpetrator, mirroring the FBI’s criteria.

Currently, this year is shaping up to be the third-worst recorded for deaths resulting from mass killings, overshadowed only by the 57 deaths each recorded by the same date in 2023 and 2008. The preceding year concluded with 42 instances of mass killings, reaching a grim total of 217 lives lost, positioning it as one of the deadliest years on record for such violence.

Since 2006, mass killings have claimed 3,036 lives and resulted in 2,047 injuries over 584 events, the database elucidates. Highlighting other tragic events this year:

In Ferguson, Missouri, a mother set her home ablaze, intending to end her life and that of her four children. A note indicating her intentions was discovered, and despite neighbors’ attempts to intervene, the fire’s intensity barred rescue efforts.

A drive-by attack in Birmingham, Alabama resulted in four fatalities as a barrage of gunfire hit men outside their residence. Meanwhile, in Huntington Park, California, a sequence of shootings over several hours left four dead, including a teenager, with one other juvenile injured. Suspected gang affiliates were taken into custody.

The burning of a home in East Lansdowne, Pennsylvania concealed the murder of a family by one of its own members. The suspect ended the lives of six relatives, including children, before dying in a clash with law enforcement.

A confrontation in the Mojave Desert, near El Mirage, California, left six men dead, likely due to a dispute over illegal cannabis operations. In a grim episode in Tinley Park, Illinois, a man killed his wife and daughters following a domestic argument.