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The US is no stranger to deadly shooting incidents. And the killing of a 24-year-old TV reporter Alison Parker and 27-year-old cameraman Adam Ward on live television in Virginia on Wednesday is yet another dark reminder of the ever-rising gun culture in the US.
The shooter, a former employee of the TV station himself succumbed to injuries from a self-inflicted gunshot wound later.
Reacting to the killing, US President Barack Obama said the number of people who died from gun-related incidents around this country “dwarfs” any deaths that happen through terrorism. “It breaks my heart every time you read or hear about these kinds of incidents.”
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tweeted the nation must act to stop gun violence, and it couldn’t wait any longer.
An alarming report by the Mass Shooting Tracker introduces one to the horrific reality of mass shootings in that country. As of Wednesday, the US had 247 mass shootings in the 238 days of 2015 — an average of more than one shooting per day — the report shows
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A recently released livescience study shows that the US has 31 per cent of the world’s mass shooters, even as it accounts for only about five per cent of the world’s population.
Data suggest the reasons for these numbers could be easy availability of guns, and perhaps the Americans’ obsession with fame, adds the report.
Here are 10 shooting incidents in recent times in the US that shocked the world:
Here are 10 shooting incidents in recent times in the US that shocked the world:
June 18, 2015:
(Charleston, South Carolina)
Nine people killed at a historic black church. One Dylann Storm Roof identified as the alleged shooter
May 23, 2014:
(Isla Vista, California)
Gunman, Elliot Rodger, opens fire in the UC Santa Barbara campus town of Isla Vista from inside a black BMW, leaving seven dead and seven wounded. The gunman is killed during the shooting rampage.
Sep 16, 2013:
(Washington, DC)
Shooter Aaron Alexis, a Navy contractor, kills at least 13 and injures three at the Navy Yard, a huge complex of buildings along Washington’s Anacostia River waterfront
Dec 14, 2012:
(Newtown, Connecticut)
Gunman Adam Lanza, 20, kills 20 first-graders and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. He also kills himself at the scene. Lanza had also killed his mother at the home they shared before this shooting rampage
Jul 20, 2012:
(Aurora, Colorado)
James Holmes, 24, allegedly enters a theatre through an exit door during the local premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, kills 12 people and injures 58 others.
Oct 12, 2011:
(Seal Beach, California)
Scott Dekraai, 41, walks into a crowded Seal Beach hair salon, opens fires, killing 8 people and injuring one.
Nov 5, 2009:
(Ft Hood, Texas)
An Army psychiatrist, Maj Nidal Malik Hasan, kills 13 people and injures 32 others in a shooting rampage.
Apr 3, 2009:
(Binghamton, New York)
Jiverly Voong, 41, shoots and kills 13 people and seriously wounds four others before committing suicide.
Apr 16, 2007:
(Blacksburg, Virginia)
Student Seung Hui Cho, 23, goes through multiple buildings of the college campus, ultimately killing 32 people and injuring 17 before killing himself.
Mar 21, 2005:
(Red Lake Indian Reservation, Minnesota)
Jeffrey Weise, a 16-year-old student at Red Lake High School, shoots five students, a teacher, and a security guard and wounds seven others before taking his own life. Before this, Weise killed his grandfather and his grandfather’s companion at their home.
