Does the shooting in Allen, TX, count as a mass shooting? Here’s how the FBI defines it

David Montesino
·1 min read
22

As the nation’s foremost law enforcement agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation defined for years a mass shooting “as any incident in which at least four people are murdered with a gun,” according to the Department of Justice.

In 2013, this definition was revised by Congress to mean “3 or more killings in one incident.”

When a gunman, dressed all in black, drove to the Allen Premium Outlet stores Saturday afternoon and opened fire on unsuspecting shoppers killing 8 and sending many more to the hospital, the incident falls squarely within the parameters of a mass shooting as defined by the U.S. government.

So, what is a “mass killing”?

Here is what the FBI considers a mass killing, and amended by Congress in 2013.

  • The shooter killed at least four people. The U.S. government revised this in 2013 to three people.

  • The shooter acted alone.

  • The shooting incident occurred in a public place.

  • Victim counts do not include shooters who died or were wounded during an attack.