Mass shootings in the U.S. reached a distressing level in 2019, a report released by the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive found. The report found there were 417 mass shootings, with 31 of the incidents classified as mass murders.

The archive defines a mass shooting as any shooting incident in which four people are wounded. Similarly, it uses the FBI definition of mass murders as incidents in which four are killed.

The archive confirmed that 2019 had the highest number of mass shootings since 2014, rising after a few years of static numbers. In 2018, there were a reported 337 mass shootings, following 346 in 2017. Last year also broke the record for mass shootings set in 2016 with 382. Prior to that, the annual number of shootings had been on the rise, with 269 in 2014 and 335 in 2015.

It was also reported that there were 15,381 gun deaths and 29,568 injuries last year.

The archive’s website keeps a running list of mass shootings in the U.S. In January 2020 alone, there were 25 incidents that killed 31 people. The deadliest came on Jan. 24 in Vanceboro, North Carolina, in which five people were killed. A shooting in Kansas City on Jan. 19 had the highest number of casualties, with two killed and 15 injured.

Mass Shooting
In this photo illustration, a Rock River Arms AR-15 rifle is seen with ammunition in Miami, Florida, Dec. 18, 2012. Getty Images/ Joe Raedle
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