- The number of mass shootings in the US this year has already reached 289, as of September 3, according to the Gun Violence Archive's tally.
- Eight people were killed and an additional 23 were injured in a mass shooting on Saturday afternoon in the cities of Odessa and Midland, Texas.
- There have been 11 additional mass shootings since the Odessa shooting on August 31, according to the Gun Violence Archive's qualifications.
- By the Gun Violence Archive's count, there have been more US mass shootings than days in 2019 so far.
At least eight people are dead and 23 injured after a mass shooting in West Texas over the weekend.
The shooting occurred on August 31 after a gunman, named by police as 36-year-old Seth Ator, opened fire on authorities during a traffic stop.
This was the fourth mass shooting to occur in Texas in August alone. On August 3, 22 people were killed and 24 were injured at a Walmart in El Paso. Less than 24 hours later in Dayton, Ohio, nine people were killed, plus the shooter, and 17 were injured.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks shootings in the US, there have been 289 shootings in 2019 so far. To put this into perspective, September 3 is the 246th day of the year, meaning that by their definition, the US has had more mass shootings than days in 2019.
Read more: There were 336 mass shootings in the US in 2018 — here's the full list
Americans are more likely to die from gun violence than many leading causes of death combined, with some 11,000 people in the US killed in firearm assaults each year.
The definition of 'mass shooting' varies
There is no broadly accepted definition of a mass shooting. The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as a single incident in which four or more people, not including the shooter, are "shot and/or killed" at "the same general time and location."
The government also doesn't have an official definition. In 2013, a report from the Congressional Research Service, known as Congress' think tank, described mass shootings as those in which shooters "select victims somewhat indiscriminately" and involve four or more deaths — a higher bar than the Gun Violence Archive's, as it doesn't take injuries into account.
Earlier in 2013, a federal mandate identified the threshold as three or more deaths.
According to data from the Gun Violence Archive, more than 10,000 people have died from gun-related violence in the US so far this year, and more than 20,000 others have been injured.
There have been 313 deaths from mass shootings alone since January, according to the GVA.
There have been 1,209 injuries from mass shootings since January.
Here's a complete list of the mass shootings, as defined by the Gun Violence Archive, that have occurred in the US so far in 2019:
You can view a report of any incident by visiting the list on the Gun Violence Archive's website.
