About those "16 mass shootings" since Sandy Hook.

Mark Kelly and Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS) seem eager to come up with 16 mass shootings that they claimed occurred in a letter to Congress. This claim has raised many eyebrows, because it doesn’t appear to be remotely truthful.

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Let’s hope that they do better than the Huffington Post has in their attempt to spin mass shootings.

Using their own chart and definitions, only one of the 16 incidents below is correctly classified as a mass shooting where 4 or more people were killed in a single episode at a single location in public.

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Just last month, the Huffington Post—in a post where they said there were just six mass shootings so far this year—uses this definition of a “mass shooting” borrowed from Mother Jones.

The FBI defined mass murder to distinguish it from serial murder. That definition provides the basis for the unofficial definition of mass shooting that has gained use in recent years. Mother Jones explained the definition in an extensive “Guide to Mass Shootings in America,” writing that mass shootings typically involve a single episode in a single location, usually a public place. The Mother Jones definition of mass shooting matches the FBI definition of mass murder in that it includes single incidents that kill at least four victims.

As a practical matter, most Americans also tend to view a mass murder as something that happens to strangers, whereas familial killings, regardless of the number of dead, are viewed as “domestic violence.”

That quibble allowed, let’s have a look at their chart, using their rules of a minimum of four killed in a single episode at a single location, usually in a public place. Those that are not in a public place we’ll further classify as “atypical” to differentiate from what most people consider a mass shooting, which involves a shooting in a public place, again according to their definitions.

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On January 9, in Tulsa Oklahoma, two men carried out a series of shootings in four different locations, killing three, and injuring two. This series of shooting did not meet any of their own criteria, happening in multiple locations, and only tallying three fatalities. Invalid.

In Albequerque, NM, Nehemiah Griego murdered his mother while she slept, then his brother, his two sisters, and then his father at 5:00 AM when he came home from working at a homeless shelter. The five familial deaths meet the definition of a mass murder being used here, though they didn’t happen in a public place as per the “norm.” Valid. Atypical.

On March 4, Kurt Myers set his apartment on fire, then went to a nearby barbershop where he shot and killed two men, and injured two more. He then got back into his car and drove to Gaffy’s Fast Lube where he killed two customers, before he later killed in a shootout with police in the basement of yet another business. This was a series of spree killings, and does not count as a mass shooting. Invalid.

On April 18, four bodies were found in the basement of an apartment complex in Akron, Ohio, shot execution-style in what appears to have been a drug deal/robbery gone bad. Their bodies were not discovered for days, because this was not a public place. Two men, both 21 years old, have been arrested. As the Huffington Post criteria does not exclude mass shootings that occur during the commission of the crime, this counts. Valid. Atypical.

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In Federal Way, Washington, a domestic violence murder in one apartment spilled over into the killing of two more in the apartment complex parking lot, then back to the murder of a fourth person in another apartment. One would be technically correct in arguing that this was technically three different locations, but it was part of on continuous event without any apparent interruptions. Valid. Atypical.

In late April in Manchester, Illinois, a mayor’s nephew murdered five people in their home before being shot to death by police after a short chase. Valid. Atypical.

In May in Fernley and near Reno, Neveda, Jeremiah Bean shot and killed two people in a robbery, then invaded another home (another location) to murder a second couple. He then shot and killed a fifth man to steal his truck 30 miles away.  This was not a single episode, and happened at three locations. Invalid.

Also in May, four people were killed in a home in Waynesville, Indiana, that neighbors say was being used in the meth trade. A single suspect was latter apprehended. Valid. Atypical. 

On June 7, John Zawahri killed two people in his home before setting it on fire. He then carjacked a vehicle and force the driver to take him to Santa Monica Junior College, where he killed two people in a vehicle. He then set out on foot, and shot and killed a woman outside the school library, before going inside to fire more shots. He was eventually engaged by police and killed 13 minutes after the shooting started. Police collected evidence at nine crime scenes.  This was a spree killing. Invalid.

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In late July in Hialeah, Florida, Pedro Vargas went on a shooting rampage that started with a set-piece ambush in his 4th floor apartment, then led to him firing from an apartment balcony at people in the parking lot, before finally invading a 3rd apartment and killing most of the occupants. Vargas six before being gunned down by a SWAT team on the 5th floor. Valid. Atypical. 10/29 Update: The killings occured in three different locations, and Vargas was finally shot down with hostages in a fourth location. This was a spree killing. Invalid.

In Clarksburgh, West Virginia, Sidney A. Muller killed two in a well-known drug house in a drug deal gone bad, then killed a father and son delivering newspapers who happened to arrive at the location at the wrong time. Valid. Atypical.

Erbie Bowser shot and killed two people in Dallas, Texas,  before driving to Desoto, Texas, and killing two more on the night of August 8. Invalid.

Huffington Post includes also included a graphic for Chicago in August showing five fatalities. I cannot find any links to a single shooting in Chicago in August where five were killed. Until they can source this one, I have no choice but to mark this as invalid. Invalid.

Daniel Livingston Green, convinced that his family was keeping him from his “one true love,” former Disney star Selena Gomez, murdered four members of his family in their home. Valid. Atypical.

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In Crab Orchard, Tennessee, tow were arrested after four were gunned down in a car in what appears to be a drug deal gone bad. Valid. Atypical.

At the Washington Navy Yard, Aaron Alexis shot and killed 12 before he was engaged by police and shot 30 minutes into his rampage. Valid. Typical.

In tallying up the killings in Huffington Post’s chart, we discover that of the 16 claimed mass shootings since Sandy Hook:

  • five six were incorrectly classified. They were spree killings, not mass killings.
  • one, in Chicago, appears fictionalized. There was no mass killing in Chicago where five were killed in a single incident that month.
  • nine eight were valid mass killings with four or more killed, but atypical by Huffington Post’s own definitions, happening all or in part within in private residences.
  •  Just one, the Navy Yard shooting committed by Aaron Alexis, meets the Huffington Post standard of a minimum of four killed in a single episode at a single location in a public place.

Using their criteria, there has been one typical mass shooting since Sandy Hook, which was the Washington Navy Yard massacre committed by Aaron Alexis.

I sure hope that this isn’t the evidence that Mark Kelly is waiting on.

10/29 Update: The shootings committed by Pedro Vargas in Hialeah, Florida occurred in two apartment homes on tow separate floors, with an interceded murder in a parking lot. He was shot by SWAT in a fourth location with two hostages. This was not a mass shooting, but a spree killing, and edits to the article have been made to reflect that correction.

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