It is a sad coincidence that we are publishing this piece commemorating the (far too many) victims of last year’s deadliest mass shootings the day after 2020’s fourth mass killing event. Yesterday, an employee of the Molson-Coors plant in Milwaukee opened fire on his fellow workers, killing five before taking his own life. As USA Today points out, 18 people have now lost their lives this year because of mass shootings.
Sadly, mass shootings occur nearly every day in the United States.
While the precise definition of a mass shooting is insignificant compared to the rippling devastation these events cause, we’ve compiled this list based on incidents where four or more people are injured by gunfire.
Here are the 10 deadliest mass shootings of 2019:
#1 El Paso, Texas
Number of victims killed: 23
| Jordan Jamrowski Anchondo | Andre Anchondo | Arturo Benavides | Javier Amir Rodriguez | Leo Cimpeda Campos | Maribel Hernandez |
| David Johnson | Angie Sliva-Englisbee | Maria Flores | Raul Flores | Elsa Marquez de la Mora | Luis Alfonzo Juarez |
| Margie Reckard | Sara Esther Regalado Moriel | Adolfo Cerros Hernández | Jorge Calvillo García | Elsa Mendoza Marquez | Gloria Irma Márquez |
| María Eugenia Legarreta Rothe | Juan de Dios Velázquez Chairez | Ivan Hiliberto Manzano | Teresa Sanchez | Alexander Gerhard Hoffman |
On August 3rd, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius of Dallas drove more than 11 hours through Texas to open fire in an El Paso Walmart, killing 22 people and injuring 26 others. After analyzing a manifesto written by Crusius prior to the attack, the FBI deemed the shooting racially motivated.
#2 Dayton, Ohio
Number of victims killed: 10
| Lois Oglesby | Megan Betts | Nicholas Cumer | Logan Turner | Thomas McNichols |
| Derrick Fudge | Monica Brickhouse | Saeed Saleh | Beatrice Warren-Curtis | Connor Stephen Betts (gunman) |
Also on August 3rd, Connor Stephen Betts fired 26 shots in 32 seconds, killing 10 people and injuring 17 others. Reports indicate 10 additional victims were injured as they fled the popular strip of restaurants and bars where the shooting occured. Shortly afterwards, Betts was shot and killed by an officer.
#3 Virginia Beach, Virginia
Number of victims killed: 13
| Michelle ‘Missy’ Langer | Herbert ‘Bert’ Snelling | Tara Gallagher | Richard Nettleton | Joshua O. Hardy | Christopher Rapp |
| Alexander Mikhail Gusev | Robert Williams | Katherine ‘Kate’ Nixon | Ryan Keith Cox | LaQuita Brown | Mary Louise Gayle |
| DeWayne Antonio Craddock (gunman) |
On May 31st, disgruntled city employee, DeWayne Antonio Craddock, walked into a municipal building in the Princess Anne area of Virginia Beach and opened fire. His attack claimed the lives of 12 victims, while four others were injured.
#4 Odessa, Texas
Number of victims killed: 8
| Rodolfo Julio Arco | Kameron Karltess Brown | Raul Garcia |
| Mary Granados | Joseph Griffith | Leilah Hernandez |
| Edwin Peregrino | Seth Aaron Ator (gunman) |
On August 31st, Seth Aaron Ator went on a shooting spree after being fired from his trucking job. Ator firied an AR-15 from his vehicle in multiple locations throughout the Midland-Odessa area, killing seven people. Ator’s youngest victim, 17-month-old Anderson Davis, was seriously injured when a bullet fragment hit her face and shrapnel lodged in her chest.
#5 Aurora, Illinois
Number of victims killed: 6
| Clayton Parks | Trevor Wehner | Russell “Russ” Beyer | Vicente Juarez | Josh Pinkard | Gary Montez Martin (gunman) |
Forty-five-year-old Gary Montez Martin walked into his former place of employment on the afternoon of February 15 and opened fire, killing five of his colleagues before he himself was killed by responding police officers. Six others were injured during the incident at the Henry Pratt plant, located just outside of Chicago.
#6 Gilroy, California
Number of victims killed: 4
| Stephen Romero | Keyla Salazar | Trevor Irby | Santino William Legan (gunman) |
During the annual Garlic Festival held in Gilroy, California, gunman Santino William Legan opened fire randomly into the crowd using a WASR-10 semi-automatic rifle. Legan’s July 28th attack killed three patrons of the festival and left 13 injured. Legen then turned the gun on himself after three police officers opened fire on him.
#7 Jersey City, New Jersey
Number of victims killed: 6
| Mindy Ferencz | Douglas Miguel Rodriguez | Moshe Deutsch | Detective Joseph Seals | David Anderson (gunman) | Francine Graham (gunman) |
In an act of antisemitism, two shooters, David Anderson and Francine Graham, opened fire inside a kosher grocery store located in the Greenville section of Jersey City. The assailants killed three civilians and one detective during the December 10th attack, before being shot and killed by responding police officers. Three other victims were injured during the shooting spree.
#8 San Diego, California
Number of victims killed: 6
| Sabrina Rosario | Enzi Valdivia | Zuriel Valdivia | Zeth Valdivia | Ezekiel Valdivia | Jose Valdivia (gunman) |
On November 16th in the Paradise Hills suburb of San Diego, California, Jose Valdivia opened fire on his estranged wife and children inside their home. Valdivia’s former wife, Sabrina Rosario, had previously filed a restraining order against Valdivia. The order, however, did not stop Valdivia from shooting and killing Rosario and four of her sons before turning the gun on himself.
#9 Pensacola, Florida
Number of victims killed: 4
| Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson | Airman Mohammed Sameh Haitham | Airman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters | Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani (gunman) |
On December 6th, Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani opened fired at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola in what has now been classified a Jihadist terrorist attack. Saeed Alshamrani was participating in a training program sponsored by the Pentagon when he carried out the attack that claimed the lives of three U.S. Navy sailors and injured eight others. Saeed Alshamrani was shot and killed by Escambia County sheriff deputies after the attack.
#10 Orinda, California
Number of victims killed: 5
| Oshiana Tompkins | Tiyon Farley | Ramon Hill Jr | Javin County | Omar Taylor |
During a Halloween house party located outside of San Francisco, gunfire erupted, killing five and injuring three others. Police were unable to identify the suspect(s) involved, though at least two of the victims had ties to the Page Street Mob gang, according to police.
Methodology
We used the information found at the Gun Violence Archive to determine the largest mass shootings in the U.S. for 2019. We applied both the number of people killed as well as injured to our analysis to capture the most severe mass shootings. We weighed the number of deaths 20% heavier than injuries, then added both figures together to rank each incident.
We’ve adjusted the El Paso, Texas, data as outside data confirmed 23 deaths and 26 injured while GVA listed only 22 deaths and 24 injuries.
