There have already been 36 mass shootings only three weeks into 2023.
Saturday’s mass shooting at Monterey Park, California, at a Lunar New Year celebration joined the other 35 shootings that have occurred since Jan. 1, 2023. The mass shooting left 11 people dead and another nine injured, and questions remain surrounding the motive of the shooter and what type of gun was used in the tragedy.
HUU CAN TRAN LA COUNTY SHOOTING: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE LUNAR NEW YEAR MASSACRE
The Gun Violence Archive, which details mass shooting data year to year, defines a mass shooting as a shooting in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter. The four people shot can either be recorded dead or injured.
The archive database marks 36 mass shootings since the start of the year, with the most occurring in Florida with five shootings, followed by Louisiana with four, California with three, and Texas with three.
However, the worst shooting of 2023, calculated by the number of people dead, occurred in California, with 11 dead, including the shooter, at the Lunar New Year shooting on Saturday. The shooting also had one of the highest numbers of people injured so far this year, with the highest being a shooting in Louisiana in which 12 people were injured.
The next deadly shooting occurred in Utah with eight people dead, when Michael Haight killed his wife, their five children, and his mother-in-law before taking his own life on Jan. 4.
California took third place for the next deadly shooting after six people, including a baby, were shot to death at a home in Goshen, California, on Jan. 16. Investigators believe the incident may be connected to gang and drug activities, and a surviving family was found in the home when police arrived.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In total, 18 states and Washington, D.C., have been the site of one or more mass shootings this year. Overall, 59 people have been killed in 2023 from mass shootings.
In 2022, there were 647 mass shootings by the end of the year. Shootings have increased dramatically since 2015, when there were 336 mass shootings recorded. There was a stark increase from 417 recorded mass shootings in 2019 to 610 recorded mass shootings in 2020.
