250th Mass Shooting in 2019? No...

August 5, 2019 by Matt Carden

All morning and much of the weekend,  I have been hearing people say Dayton was the 250th Mass Shooting this year. It is not.

The "250" number includes every drive-by, every robbery, ever other instance where more that 3 people have been shot.  A "mass shooting" according to the Congressional Research Service is a shooting were the motive is ONLY the shooting and multiple people are killed.

The media are doing a GREAT disservice by stating this was the 250th Mass Shooting. The ONLY way you get to 250 is if you include a HUGE number of drive-by gang related shootings, drug related shootings and other crimes, including a Baltimore incident on July 15, 2019 where a man attempted to use a gun to demand methadone, then killed one and wounded two before being killed by police in a shootout (Its on the list of "mass shootings"). Or how about an Augusta, Georgia incident on March 17, 2019 where "four people were wounded after an argument, although the shooter claims that it was in self-defense to being randomly attacked" (its also on the list of "mass shootings"). What about an April 11, 2019 incident in the Watts area of Los Angeles. One person was killed and four were wounded when suspects fired at them from a car in the Watts neighborhood.  I always thought this was called a gang-related drive-by?

Most people will NOT verify the facts-- they read what the media say and believe it. They also don't look at where facts are coming from. Are the Media telling the truth? Well, that depends. The Congressional Research Service says no- Wikipedia says yes.

Personally, I say no as well.

250th Mass Shooting in 2019? No...