ORLANDO, Fla. – Friday’s early morning shooting in Downtown Orlando continues the trend of gun violence in America, and Florida is not immune.
In the last decade, there have been 278 mass shootings in the state. One of the questions we had in the newsroom was, is the situation getting better or worse?
According to GunViolenceArchive.org, here’s what the data looks like over the past 10 years:
Central Florida has had a number of mass shootings, including the second deadliest in American history.
On June 12, 2016, 49 people died and 58 others were injured at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando when gunman Omar Mateen opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle and pistol. Police shot and killed him after a three-hour standoff.
Less than one year later, on June 5, 2017, John Robert Neumann Jr. killed five co-workers and himself at the Fiamma RV awning factory in Orlando.
And just this year, on April 28, a 16-year-old opened fire at a Sanford party venue, injuring 10 people including Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell.
According to GunViolenceArchive.org, the U.S. has had more than 600 mass shootings each year between 2020 and 2023 – with two months left in 2024, we are under 500 so far this year.
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