Texas is no stranger to mass killings, but what’s behind the state’s deadly record?
Mass killings have been a regular feature in Texas life for the past 16 years, except for three years: 2010, 2012 and 2014, according to a database of mass killings in the U.S. since 2006.
The study shows 2,087 people were killed in 551 mass killings in the past 16 years. In Texas, 228 people were murdered in that time, and 215 of the victims were killed in shootings. That is 7.9% of all victims of mass killings in the United States.
This constituted deaths by a lone gunman that killed at least four in Texas. Only three other incidents with four or more victims were recorded in this time frame: stabbings that killed four each in Laredo and Port Lavaca and an incident that killed five in San Antonio by asphyxiation.
As the nation’s foremost law enforcement agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation defined for years a mass shooting “as any incident in which at least four people are murdered with a gun,” according to the Department of Justice. In 2013, this definition was revised by Congress to mean “3 or more killings in one incident.”
August of 2019 was the deadliest month in Texas when it comes to mass killings with 30 people killed and another 47 injured in shootings only 25 days apart.
A single shooter armed with an assault-style rifle stopped at a Walmart in El Paso Texas Aug. 3, 2019, because he was hungry after a 10-hour drive from Dallas. Police believe he went into the store, ate and cased it without his weapon before later going back into the store and opening fire. Gov. Gregg Abbott said after the shooting that it was “one of the most deadly days in the history of Texas.”
Patrick Wood Crusius, 24, pled guilty in U.S. District Court earlier this year to a 90-count indictment, including 45 counts of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and 45 counts of using a firearm while committing a crime.
Add to that the seven killed and another 22 injured in a killing spree just hours after a 36-year-old man, Seth Ator, was fired from his job at a trucking company, the month’s record is deadly indeed.
Shootings in Texas with a lone assailant that killed more than four people
Data was collected by USA Today in partnership with The Associated Press and Northeastern University.
Jonestown, July 24, 2007 — six victims killed
Ingram, June 1, 2008 — four victims killed
Alton, Dec. 6, 2008 — four victims killed, one injured
Killeen (Fort Hood), Nov. 5, 2009 — 13 victims killed, 22 injured
Belleville, Jan. 17, 2010 — five victims killed
Grand Prairie, June 23, 2011 — five victims killed, four injured
Bay City, Nov. 30, 2011 — four victims killed, one injured
Grapevine, Dec. 25, 2011 — six victims killed
Paris, Oct. 9, 2013 — four victims killed
Terrell, Oct. 28, 2013 — five victims killed
Rice, Sept. 20, 2013 — four victims killed
Waco, May 17, 2015 — nine victims killed, 18 injured
Houston, Aug. 8, 2015 — eight victims killed
Palestine, Nov. 14, 2015 — six victims killed, one injured
Del Valle, Sept. 8, 2016 — four victims killed
Channelview, Dec. 9, 2016 — four victims killed
Plano, Sept. 10, 2017 — eight victims killed, 1 injured
Sutherland Springs, Nov. 5, 2017 — 25 victims killed, 20 injured
Ponder, May 16, 2018 — four victims killed, 1 injured
Santa Fe, May 18, 2018 — 10 victims killed, 13 injured
Robstown, July 27, 2018 — four victims killed
Livingston, Feb. 11, 2019 — four victims killed
El Paso, Aug. 3, 2019 — 23 victims killed, 23 injured
Odessa, Aug. 31, 2019 — seven victims killed, 22 injured
Beaumont, Sept. 29, 2019 — four victims killed
Houston, Sept. 5, 2021 — four victims killed
Corsicana, Feb. 5, 2022 — five victims killed, two injured
Uvalde, May 24, 2022 — 21 victims killed, 17 injured
Centerville, June 2, 2022 — five victims killed
Fort Worth, Oct. 7, 2022 — four victims killed
Cleveland, April 28, 2023 — five victims killed
Allen, May 6, 2023 — eight victims killed, 7 injured
