A shooting last weekend at a children's birthday party in California that left four dead was the 17th mass killing this year the lowest number recorded since 2006, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. Experts warn that the drop doesn't necessarily mean safer days are here to stay and that it could simply represent a return to average levels. Sir Isaac Newton never studied crime, but he says What goes up must come down,'" said James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University. The current drop in numbers is more likely what statisticians call a regression to the mean, he said, representing a return to more average crime levels after an unusual spike in mass killings in 2018 and 2019. Will 2026 see a decline?" Fox said. "I wouldn't bet on it. What goes down must also go back up. The mass killings defined as incidents in which four or more people are killed in a 24-hour period, not including th
US President Donald Trump on Sunday said he's invited the family of a National Guard member fatally shot last week to the White House, saying he spoke to her parents and they were devastated. US Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom died after the Wednesday shooting in Washington, DC, while her seriously injured colleague, US Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, remained in critical condition. The president said he's discussed a White House visit for the parents of both members of the West Virginia National Guard. I said, When you're ready, because that's a tough thing, come to the White House. We're going to honor Sarah, Trump told reporters. And likewise with Andrew, recover or not. In recent days, local vigils in West Virginia have honoured the soldiers, including one Saturday evening at Webster County High School, where Beckstrom attended classes. Sarah was the kind of student that teachers hoped for, she carried herself with quiet strength, a contagious smile and a positive energy that lif
Police in California evacuated a shopping mall Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, after a shooting left two people with gunshot wounds. The shooting was an isolated incident, the San Jose Police Department said on the social platform X. Officers evacuated and cleared Valley Fair Mall in Santa Clara to confirm there was no threat to public safety. The wounded were taken to a hospital, police said. San Jose and Santa Clara are neighbouring cities about 80 kilometres south of San Francisco. The day after Thanksgiving, known in the retail industry as Black Friday, marks the official start of the holiday shopping season in the US and is the biggest shopping day of the year.
A shooting at an Oklahoma State University residence hall wounded at least three people early Sunday morning, according to a university spokesperson. Police said there was no ongoing threat to campus. Initial reports indicate the shooting happened when people arrived at the residence hall after attending a large private party off-campus, university police said. Officers responded at about 3:40 am. University police Chief Michael Beckner said in a statement posted online that there were multiple victims, one of whom was known to be a student at the school. A university spokesperson said at least three people were shot. All were being treated at hospitals. Police became aware of the shooting at Carreker East residence hall after shooting victims arrived at off-campus locations and reported the incident. The university is located in the city of Stillwater, about 50 miles (80 kilometres) northeast of Oklahoma City.
A man is believed to have fatally shot three people at two different locations in the Houston area before killing himself on Wednesday, said police, who are still trying to determine a motive for the shootings. Early indications are that it's all related, Houston Police Department Lt. Larry Crowson said. Around 1 pm, a driver in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land fired multiple shots at another vehicle, hitting its driver, who was pronounced dead at a hospital, said Alicia Alaniz, a spokesperson for the city police. Police are still trying to determine if the shooting was an instance of road rage, Alaniz said. About half an hour later, Houston police received a call about a shooting at a mechanic shop about 11 kilometres southeast of the first shooting. Crowson said the shooter shot a mechanic and a witness who was filming him as he was leaving. The description of the shooter and the vehicle he was in matched the accounts from the Sugar Land shooting, Crowson said. Police found the
ABC has suspended Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show indefinitely after comments that he made about Charlie Kirk's killing led a group of ABC-affiliated stations to say it would not air the show. Kimmel, the veteran late-night comic, made several comments about the reaction to Kirk's assassination on his show Monday and Tuesday nights. He said that many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk. ABC, which has aired Kimmel's late-night show since 2003, moved swiftly after Nextstar Communications Group said it would pull the show starting Wednesday. Kimmel's comments about Kirk's death are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar's broadcasting division. Nexstar operates 23 ABC affiliates. There was no immediate comment from Kimmel. On Twitter Wednesday night, White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich posted: Welcome to Consequence Culture. Normal, common sense
Prosecutors are preparing to file a capital murder charge Tuesday against the Utah man who authorities say held a leftist ideology and may have been radicalised online before he was arrested in the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Charges against 22-year-old Tyler Robinson are expected to come ahead of the first court hearing since he was accused last week of shooting Kirk, a conservative activist credited with energising the Republican youth movement and helping President Donald Trump win back the White House in 2024. Investigators have been piecing together evidence, including a rifle and ammunition engraved with anti-fascist and meme culture messaging, found after the shooting Wednesday at Utah Valley University in Orem. Kirk was speaking there on one of his many campus visits where he relished debating just about everyone. Prosecutors in Utah County are considering several charges against Robinson, the most serious being aggravated murder because it could bring the death penalty i
Vice President JD Vance on Monday jumped onto the conservative movement demanding consequences for those who have cheered Charlie Kirk's killing, calling on the public to turn in anyone who says distasteful things about the assassination of his friend and political ally. "When you see someone celebrating Charlie's murder, call them out," Vance urged listeners on the slain activist's podcast Monday. "And hell, call their employer." Vance's call also included a vow to target some of the biggest funders of liberal causes as conservatives stepped up their targeting of private individuals for their comments about the killing. It marked an escalation in a campaign that some warned invoked some of the darkest chapters of American history. "The government involvement in this does inch this closer to looking like McCarthyism," said Adam Goldstein of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, referring to the 1950s campaign to root out communists that led to false allegations and ..
Law enforcement identified Tyler Robinson of Utah as the primary suspect in the killing. Robinson was arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder and is being held without bail at the Utah County jail
A 22-year-old Utah man was arrested in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk during an event on a college campus, authorities said Friday. "We got him," Gov Spencer Cox told reporters at a news conference announcing the arrest of Tyler Robinson in Wednesday's killing of Kirk at Utah Valley University. He was taken into custody Thursday night and is due in court early next week. Investigators believe he acted alone. Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organisation Turning Point USA, was a top podcaster, culture warrior and ally of President Donald Trump. He led an effort to remake the GOP's get-out-the-vote effort in the 2024 election based on the theory there were thousands of Trump supporters who rarely vote but could be persuaded to do so. His killing was the latest in a string of attacks on US politicians that have targeted members of both major parties. Here's what to know about Kirk's shooting: Suspect is arrested Cox, a Republican, said a fami
A shooting in southern West Virginia on Monday left two people dead including a suspected gunman, along with three others wounded, police said. Fayette County Sheriff Jess McMullen said the shooting happened in Mount Carbon. Police found the suspected gunman dead inside his residence of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, while another person was found dead in a neighboring carport. Three other people had minor gunshot wounds and were receiving medical care, McMullen told news outlets. The identities of the dead were not immediately released. An advisory for residents to remain indoors was later lifted. Additional details on the shooting weren't available. A telephone message left with the sheriff's department wasn't immediately returned Monday night.
Two of the three people killed in a bar shooting in the New York City borough of Brooklyn were among the four shooters who opened fire inside the building, the city's police commissioner said Monday. Jamel Childs, 35, and Marvin St. Louis, 19, both of Brooklyn, were seen on surveillance video arguing in the Taste of the City Lounge in Crown Heights shortly before 3:30 a.m. Sunday, Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. About 10 minutes later, St. Louis approached Childs and opened fire, and Childs and two other men fired back. Both Childs and St. Louis were shot multiple times and were pronounced dead at a hospital a short time after the shooting. The third man killed, 27-year-old city resident Amadou Diallo, was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities said Diallo appears to have been an innocent bystander. Two other men who also opened fire in the bar remained at large Monday, Tisch said, but she did not disclose further details about them. A possible motive for the shooting remains ..
A gunman opened fire in the parking lot of a Target store in Texas' capital, killing at least three people, before stealing two cars during a getaway that ended with police using a Taser to detain him on the other side of the city, authorities said. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said the suspect is a man in his 30s with a mental health history. Davis said the suspect fled the scene in a stolen car, wrecked that car and then stole another from a dealership. He was captured about 32 km away, in south Austin, where he was taken into custody, she said during a news conference. She said officers responding to a call about 2.15 pm on Monday found three people who had been shot in the Target parking lot. Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services Chief Robert Luckritz said two people were pronounced dead at the scene and one person was taken to a hospital where they were pronounced dead. He said another person was treated on the scene for unrelated injuries. This is a very sad day
A suspected gunman and a police officer are dead after law enforcement responded to reports of an active shooter near the adjoining campuses of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Emory University on Friday, authorities said. No civilians are believed to have been injured, but several rounds hit buildings on the CDC's sprawling campus, said Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum. The officer who died received gunfire during the shooting, DeKalb County Police Chief Gregory Padrick said. Officials earlier said that the officer was critically injured at the scene and taken to the hospital. CDC employees circulated photos from inside the buildings that appear to show numerous windows with bullet impacts in them. The shooter was armed with a long gun, and authorities recovered three other firearms at the scene, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the ongoing investigation. The gunma
The incident set off a chaotic scene in Midtown Manhattan, with scores of police cars cordoning off the area and a helicopter overhead
A man believed to be part of a peacekeeping team for the "No Kings" protest in Salt Lake City shot at a person who was brandishing a rifle at demonstrators, striking both the rifleman and a bystander who later died at the hospital, authorities said on Sunday. Police took the alleged rifleman, Arturo Gamboa, 24, into custody on Saturday evening on a murder charge, Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said at a Sunday news conference. The bystander was Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39. Detectives do not yet know why Gamboa pulled out a rifle or ran from the peacekeepers, but they accused him of creating the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo's death. The Associated Press did not immediately find an attorney listed for Gamboa or contact information for his family in public records. Redd said the man who dressed in a neon green vest and was believed to be part of the peacekeeping team fired three shots from a handgun at Gamboa, inflicting a relatively minor injury but fatally shooting Ah
There was a shooting Friday afternoon inside a gym, killing two people and injuring at least three others, Las Vegas police said. One person died as gunfire erupted at the Las Vegas Athletic Club on the city's west side, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Undersheriff Andrew Walsh said. There was no longer a threat to the public, Walsh said. Heavy police presence was seen lined along North Rainbow Boulevard. In a social media post, police said the suspect in the shooting was confirmed dead at a local hospital. Three people who were injured were transported to local hospitals, with one in critical condition, a spokesperson with the police department said in a press conference. Officials said they are still investigating a motive. They said get out, get out, get out, Claudio Vigani, a witness who was at the gym when the shooting started, told KLAS-TV. Then I saw the dead guy next to the machine.
Self-defence insurance surges in the US, covering shootings, threats, accidents and cleanup; critics label it 'murder insurance' amid concerns over violence and regulation
Two people were killed and nine injured in a shooting at a city park in Arkansas Sunday night, authorities said. It happened at 5th Avenue Park in Conway, about 43 kilometres north of Little Rock. Conway Police said in a Facebook post Sunday night that the nine people injured were in stable condition at area hospitals. A spokesperson for the police department declined to release additional details Monday morning, including whether investigators have a suspect or what led to the shooting. The 10-acre park has a large playground, basketball goals and a splashpad.
Three people were killed and as many others injured in a shooting in Virginia Tuesday evening, according to law enforcement. At about 5:30 pm, law enforcement received 911 calls about a shooting at a town house complex in Spotsylvania County, about 65 miles southwest of Washington, DC, said Major Elizabeth Scott, spokesperson for the Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office. No arrests have been made. "There's dozens upon dozens of officers out actively looking for suspects and preserving the crime scene," Scott said. The people injured in the mass shooting have been taken to hospitals. Their condition is unknown. No additional information about the victims was immediately available. Scott said they are urging the public to stay clear of the area.