After a significant drop in mass shootings in the United States during a pandemic-hit 2020, this year has already seen several deadly cases.
Police said on Wednesday, multiple people were killed in a shooting at a San Jose railyard. The exact number of people dead and wounded was not immediately released.
The Gun Violence Archive says 232 mass shootings have occurred so far in 2021. Their definition of mass shooting is a minimum of four gunshot victims.
President Joe Biden in March announced a half-dozen executive actions to combat what he called an “epidemic and an international embarrassment” of gun violence in America. But he said much more is needed.
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Here are a few recent mass shootings.
SAN JOSE
Gunfire erupted Wednesday at a railyard in San Jose, and a sheriff’s spokesman said multiple people were killed and wounded and that the suspect was dead.
San Jose officials said 8 people were killed in the shooting.
The suspect, identified as 57-year-old Sam Cassidy, is also dead, officials said. He was a current VTA employee.
The shooting took place at a light rail facility that is next door to the sheriff’s department and across a freeway from the airport. The facility is a transit control center that stores trains and has a maintenance yard.
The victims include Valley Transportation Authority employees, Davis said.
INDIANAPOLIS
Eight people were shot and killed at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis in April.
Authorities have said that Brandon Scott Hole, 19, had two rifles that he was able to purchase legally, even after his mother called police last year to say her son might undertake “suicide by cop.” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears has faced sharp criticism for choosing not to pursue court hearings that could have prevented Hole from accessing the guns.
ATLANTA
Eight people were killed by a gunman at three Atlanta-area massage businesses in attacks that began the evening of March 16. Seven of the slain were women, and six were of Asian descent. Police charged a 21-year-old white man with the killings. There was deep skepticism over the shooter’s claim his motive was sex addiction. There was public clamoring for hate crime charges, especially among the Asian American community, which has faced rising numbers of attacks since the coronavirus pandemic took hold.
About a week later, on March 22, a shooter at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, killed 10 people, including a police officer who was the first to respond to the scene. The suspect bought a firearm at a local gun store after passing a background check. Investigators are working to determine the motive for the shooting and why the suspect chose the King Soopers grocery store.
ORANGE, CALFORNIA
On March 31, a gunman killed four people and critically wounded a fifth at a Southern California office building. He knew all the victims. Apparently before opening fire, he chained shut the gates to two entrances, delaying police from getting inside. Among the victims was a 9-year-old boy who was found cradled in the arms of a woman believed to be his mother. The woman was the only survivor among those shot. The others killed were a man and two women.
ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA
A week later, on April 7, former NFL player Phillip Adams shot six people. Robert Lesslie, a prominent doctor, was killed along with his wife, two of their grandchildren and two air conditioning technicians who were working at the their home. Adams also killed himself. His brain is now being examined for possible degenerative disease that has been shown to cause violent mood swings and other cognitive disorders in some athletes and members of the military.
Source: Fox 8 News Channel
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