A list of the 30 mass murders in the United States this year

The most recent mass murder in the United States occurred on Wednesday in Winder, Georgia, where four people were shot dead at Apalachee High School.

Students ran for their lives at the football stadium. As police swarmed the campus near Atlanta, parents raced to find out if their children were safe.

It was the 30th mass killing in the country this year, according to a database maintained by the Associated Press and USA Today in collaboration with Northeastern University.

At least 131 people have died in these killings this year. These killings are incidents in which four or more people die within a 24-hour period (not including the killer). The FBI uses the same definition.

Last year ended with 217 deaths in 42 mass murders in the United States, making 2023 one of the deadliest years ever.

Here's a look at other mass murders in the US this year:

FOREST PARK, ILLINOIS: September 2nd

On Labor Day morning, four people sleeping on a train in the Chicago area were shot. Police were called to a Chicago Transit Authority station just outside the city. A 30-year-old man was arrested. The victims were a woman and three men. A motive was not immediately disclosed.

IRONDEQUOIT, NY: August 31

Four people were found dead after firefighters put out multiple fires at a home in upstate New York, but authorities said they were likely killed by something else. Firefighters found the bodies of two adults, a 2-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl.

DALTON, GEORGIA: August 24

Four men aged between 17 and 21 were shot dead in a park. A teenager was charged with murder. Police said it was a robbery that turned violent. Several weapons were involved.

PLANT CITY, FLORIDA: July 31

According to police, four people died in an intentional arson attack near Tampa. A 25-year-old man who lived in the house was charged with murder and arson. Three dogs were also killed.

NEW YORK CITY: July 19

A grandmother, a mother and their two children, ages 5 and 4, were stabbed to death in a Brooklyn apartment. A 24-year-old man who knew the four was arrested.

WEST BLOCTON, ALABAMA: July 18

A man has been charged with killing his wife and four children, ages 2 to 9, in a rural Bibb County community. When arrested, the man said nothing about his motive. “Even experienced police officers told me this was the worst thing they had ever seen,” said Sheriff Jody Wade.

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: July 13

The victims were shot inside a nightclub. One man died on the sidewalk, while two women were killed inside the club. Another man was pronounced dead at the hospital. Investigators believe some shots were fired from outside the club.

ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA: July 10

Police have arrested a man in connection with the shooting deaths of his wife, two children and his wife's parents in the San Francisco Bay Area. The man's father-in-law asked a neighbor for help and spoke to police before he died.

FLORENCE, KENTUCKY: July 6

A birthday party ended fatally in the early hours of the morning when four people were shot. The suspected 21-year-old shooter ended up in a ditch with his car during a police chase and was found dead. He had shot himself.

NORTH LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: June 24

A 48-year-old man who was banned from owning a gun because of a criminal record committed suicide after shooting five people, police said. The violence began after the man had an argument with his ex-girlfriend. Victims in the apartment complex included a neighbor who tried to help him, as well as the neighbor's mother and grandmother.

FORDYCE, ARKANSAS: June 21

A 44-year-old man shot at people in the parking lot before shooting more people inside the Mad Butcher grocery store, killing four people. Police said he apparently had no connection to the victims. The shooting happened in the middle of the day in Fordyce, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) south of Little Rock.

HUDSON, FLORIDA: June 12

A landlord has been accused of killing a family of four and burning their bodies. The two children were 6 and 5 years old. The family was reported missing by relatives. Police said a backyard fire pit was smoldering when they searched the property in Pasco County.

MARION, IOWA: June 5

Police say four people were killed with a metal pipe in the outbuilding of a rural home near Cedar Rapids.

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA: April 29th

Four police officers were shot in the worst attack on U.S. law enforcement officers since 2016. They were killed when a multi-agency task force attempted to arrest a 39-year-old man who was in illegal possession of a firearm and fled to another district.

YUKON, OKLAHOMA: April 22

A 10-year-old boy woke up to find his parents and three brothers dead in their home near Oklahoma City. All had been shot by his father, police said. Authorities believe the 42-year-old man killed his wife and three sons — ages 18, 14 and 12 — and then turned the gun on himself. Police said they did not immediately know why the fourth child was spared, nor did they have a motive for the shootings.

ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS: March 27

In a shooting spree involving stabbings and fights, four people were killed and at least seven were injured within a matter of minutes. Authorities said a 22-year-old man was charged. His motive was initially unclear to police. The mayor of Rockford said the victims were aged 63, 23, 49 and 15.

IRELAND, WEST VIRGINIA: March 11

The bodies of four people, ranging in age from three months to 90 years old, were found in the remains of a burning house. A fifth person with an apparent gunshot wound was discovered dead behind a chicken coop nearby, authorities said. A 45-year-old male suspect was found dead about 180 kilometers away. He had committed suicide while parked in a vehicle outside his relatives' house. Authorities did not immediately release details about the motive.

HONOLULU, HAWAII: March 10

Authorities said a woman and three children, ages 10, 12 and 17, were stabbed to death in a Manoa home. The woman's husband was also found dead. Police said preliminary investigations indicate the husband stabbed his wife and children. Authorities did not immediately release a motive. Police said the five deaths were the worst mass killing in the state since 1999. They said there had been no past visits to the home.

KING CITY, CALIFORNIA: March 3

Police said three men wearing dark masks got out of a silver Kia and opened fire at an outdoor party in central California, killing three men and a woman and wounding seven others. The shooting occurred on a street of modest homes across from a commercial district in King City, near Pinnacles National Park.

FERGUSON, MISSOURI: February 19th

Authorities said a 39-year-old woman intentionally set a fire at her home to kill herself and her four children, ages 2, 5, 9 and 9. Investigators believe the mother set a mattress on fire and left a note saying she wanted to kill herself and her children, police said. When firefighters arrived, they found the house engulfed in flames. Neighbors tried to save the family, but the fire was too big.

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: February 16

Officials said four men were killed in a drive-by shooting. Dozens of shots were fired outside a Birmingham home, police said. People were standing outside a home getting their cars washed when someone drove by and opened fire. No arrests were immediately reported.

HUNTINGTON PARK, CALIFORNIA: February 11th

Shootings lasting several hours left four people dead: a man in Bell, a man in a Los Angeles mall parking lot, a 14-year-old boy in Cudahy and a homeless man in Huntington Park, authorities said. At least one other youth was injured. Two suspected gang members were arrested in connection with the shootings, authorities said.

EAST LANSDOWNE, PENNSYLVANIA: February 7

Six human remains were recovered from the ashes of a fire that destroyed a home near Philadelphia, according to the district attorney's office. Authorities suspect the dead — including three children — were killed by a 43-year-old male relative who also died after shooting and wounding two police officers, prosecutors said. A motive was not immediately identified.

EL MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA: January 23

Authorities have found the bodies of six men in the Mojave Desert outside the sparsely populated community of El Mirage after someone called 911 and said he had been shot, sheriff's officials said. The men were likely shot during a dispute over marijuana, authorities said. The bodies were found about 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles in an area known for illegal cannabis trafficking. Five men have been arrested and charged with murder.

JOLIET, ILLINOIS: January 21

Authorities said a 23-year-old man shot and killed eight people – including seven of his relatives – and wounded a ninth person in a Chicago suburb. He later shot himself during a confrontation with police in Texas. Authorities believe he was trying to cross into Mexico. Police said the victims included his mother, siblings, aunt, uncle and two men he may not have known. They were found in two homes, outside an apartment building and on a residential street.

TINLEY PARK, ILLINOIS: January 21st

A 63-year-old man in a Chicago suburb killed his wife and three adult daughters in a domestic shooting, police said. The man allegedly shot the four family members – 53, 24 and two 25-year-old twins – after an argument in their home. He has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder.

RICHMOND, TEXAS: January 13

A 46-year-old man shot and killed his estranged wife and three other relatives, including his 8-year-old niece, in a suburban Houston home before killing himself, authorities said. Authorities said the man told his estranged wife he wanted to get back together with her, but she refused. In addition to his niece and estranged wife, he also killed her brother and sister, ages 43 and 46.

REEDLEY, CALIFORNIA: January 6

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with killing four members of a neighboring family in central California. He lived next door to the victims — ages 81, 61, 44 and 43 — in Reedley, a small town near Fresno. Three bodies were found in their backyard, including one in a shallow grave, while another was found in the detached garage of the teen's home, police said.

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This story has been updated to correct that Wednesday's shooting was the 30th mass killing this year, not the 29th.

Originally published: September 5, 2024 at 7:29 am