More than 110 Americans are killed by guns and more than 200 are shot and wounded every day, according to a recent report by a public policy think tank Everytown Research and Policy.
Gun violence impacts the families of the victims and the community they reside in. America’s culture of gun violence has engulfed countless lives and the recent shootings in 2022 suggest this unfortunate trend is not slowing down anytime soon.
The latest incident has been the Independence Day mass shooting in Chicago’s Highland Park suburb. The act of violence claimed seven innocent lives and further wounded 37 others. Yet this incident pales in comparison to the recent acts of gun violence that have been recorded this year.
There have been at least 309 mass shooting in the United States and the Fourth of July mass shooting in Chicago was the 15th mass killing of the year and a staggering 11th mass shooting of the holiday weekend, according to Gun Violence Archive (GVA).
As per GVA, the number of mass shootings is steadily rising. The United States recorded 610 mass shootings in 2020 and 692 mass shootings in 2021. Forbes reports that the recent trend of gun violence is on course to set an unfortunate record high this year. The following report provides a timeline of the high-profile mass shootings in America so far this year.
January 23
Six people were found dead in a Milwaukee home as law enforcement officers inspected for a welfare check. The victims —five men and one woman— had been fatally shot. An ABC News affiliate reported, citing official documents, that it was a result of an armed robbery and the subsequent execution of the victim and witnesses to the crime.
April 3
The mass shooting occurred in the Californian city of Sacramento. The incident occurred in a two-square-block area of downtown Sacramento, claiming the lives of six people and further injuring 12. The Sacramento Police Department commented that “gang violence” was the root issue which caused the shooting.
May 14
A gunman armed with an assault-style weapon claimed the lives of 10 people and wounded three others. The attack occurred at a Tops supermarket in a predominantly Black section of Buffalo, New York.
The incident had racial undertones as the suspect, Payton S Gendron, had posted a 200-page racist screed online.
May 24
A gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Law enforcement officers fatally shot the gunman, who was later identified as Salvador Ramos, 18.
June 1
Several people were shot and five were killed in a medical building next to the Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The police believe that the gunman killed himself.
July 4
Seven people were killed and a further 37 were wounded as a 22-year-old suspected gunman opened fire with a high-powered rifle at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois.
