Today’s High School Massacre Is Texas’s 8th Mass Shooting Since 1984

At least 99 people have died in the incidents.

A county sheriff's officer at the scene of Santa Fe High School. Stuart Villanueva/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Texas has a unique and prominent gun culture—and mass shootings are becoming an ever more prominent part of it. The state has seen at least 8 mass shootings since 1984, including high profile slaughters at a Ft. Hood army base, and, just over six months ago, a Sunday morning church service in Sutherland Springs.

Before today, Mother Jones’ database of mass shootings catalogued 91 lives lost in the state to such incidents. Initial reports from Santa Fe High School suggest eight to 10 victims may have been killed on Friday.

Texas has some of the nation’s most relaxed gun laws. A 2015 medical study found that approximately 35.7 percent of Texans own a gun.

https://twitter.com/karavoght/status/997524577638080512

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate