Active shooters in 2022 killed or injured more than 300 people, the most in 5 years, FBI says
Washington – Active shooters in America killed or injured 313 individuals across the country in 2022, the most casualties recorded in the last five years, according to a report released by the FBI on Wednesday.
Federal investigators define "active shooters" as "one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area." The FBI said the report is intended to assist law enforcement, first responders and the public understand current threat levels.
Despite an 18% decrease in violent incidents involving active shooters in 2022 compared to the year prior, the number of casualties increased by nearly 29% — from 243 to 313 — the highest in the last five years.
In all, according to the FBI's report, 50 active shooter incidents were carried out in 2022, down from 61 incidents in 2021, across 25 states and Washington, D.C. The statistics released also highlighted certain locations targeted by these violent actors, including schools, places of worship, residences and areas of commerce. Nearly half of all incidents occurred in what the FBI classified as "open spaces," the report said.
The report did not encompass incidents that were related to gang violence, self-defense, drug violence, contained residential or domestic disputes, controlled barricade or hostage situations, crossfire of another criminal act or an action that appeared not to have put others in peril.
According to the report, 48% of shooters in 2022 had a known connection to either the location of the shooting or an individual who was targeted.
Texas experienced six active shooter incidents in 2022 — the most of any state — followed by Arizona, Florida, Michigan and New York.
Sixty-one firearms were used by shooters in the 50 active shooter incidents in 2022, the vast majority either handguns or rifles.
One hundred individuals were killed in America in 2022 were killed during designated active shooter incidents, and another 213 wounded. The FBI said one law enforcement officer was killed and 21 were injured in the same type of active shooter incidents. Only 9 active shooter incidents had no casualties.
After a year marred by gun violence — including the deadly Uvalde, Texas, school shooting that left 19 children and two adults dead — the FBI's statistics revealed a vast majority of the 50 active shooters in 2022 were male. Forty-seven were male, one was female, another nonbinary and one was unidentified, the report said. All were between the ages of 15 and 79.
According to the report, citizens across the United States were responsible for bringing 16% of the active shooter incidents in 2022 to an end, intervening to save those around them. In one instance, an unarmed man took down a shooter inside a church. And in another, an armed bystander killed a perpetrator who was shooting into a crowd. Twenty-nine active shooters were apprehended, the rest were either killed, died by suicide or remain at large. In 9 incidents, law enforcement engaged the shooter with gunfire.
"The FBI emphasizes the importance of active shooter training and exercises for both law enforcement, first responders, and citizens," said the report. "The FBI remains dedicated to assisting federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and campus law enforcement in its active shooter prevention, response, and recovery efforts, as well as training its international law enforcement partners. The FBI also remains steadfast in its efforts to train private citizens in active shooter survival, as it is imperative that citizens understand the risks faced and the resources available in an active shooter incident.