Overview
- The AP–USA Today–Northeastern database counts 17 incidents in 2025 with at least 81 deaths to date, the fewest since tracking began.
- This year’s tally is about 24% below 2024 and nearly 59% under the 2019 peak of 41.
- Roughly 82% of 2025 mass killings involved firearms, and since 2006 about 81% of victims died in shootings.
- Scholars cite possible contributors such as broader declines in homicide and faster trauma care, but stress the numbers are volatile and could shift later in December.
- The database records cases with four or more intentional deaths in 24 hours, excluding the perpetrator, a narrow threshold that omits some high-injury events tracked by other sources.