US Sees Highest Number of Mass Shootings in 2 Years - Reports

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The nine mass shootings during the past weekend that left eight people dead and 60 people wounded marked the highest number of mass shootings in the United States in the last two years, CNN reported.

At least 107 mass shootings have unfolded so far this year in the United States, the report said on Monday citing the Gun Violence Archive (GVA).

The GVA categorizes a mass shooting as one where four or more people are shot, not including the shooter.

Between Friday and Sunday, three people were killed and three wounded in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and two people were killed and three wounded in Norfolk, Virginia. One of the killed was a Virginia-pilot education reporter who was shot while leaving a restaurant.

Four people were shot near the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas; at least ten people were injured in Dallas, Texas; while in New Iberia, Louisiana, five people were wounded by gunfire, including one infant.

This upward trend has continued - but slowed - through the end of 2021, with gun homicides increasing another 8 percent compared to 2020, Everytown said on its website.

Some cities  in the United States like Portland, Albuquerque and Fresno have even set new homicide records in 2021, it added.

The data indicates that the explosion of gun-related deaths is not isolated to cities in specific regions, but is being seen and felt by communities across the United States, according to Everytown.