#1:
The worst mass shooting in recent recorded history took place in Kenya on April 3, 2015. On this dire day, 148 people
were killed in a terror attack committed in the name of the Somali Islamist group al-Shabab. The gruesome killing had
four gunmen target students and staff who self-identified as Christians. Victims were asked on the spot whether they
were Muslim or Christian. Depending on how they answered, they were killed in broad daylight or let go.
Why kill? The perpetrators said they were retaliating for acts of violence committed by Kenya’s security forces in the
country.
#2:
On December 16, 2014 scores of innocent students and staff at the Army Public School, which is run by the military in
northwestern Pakistan, were attacked and killed. Seven armed assailants shot 141 people to death, mostly children. It
was a horrific blood bath.
Why commit such an atrocity? This mass shooting was a heartless act done to get back at the Pakistani military for killing
Taliban fighters in a prior attack in the Khyber area and North Waziristan. Pakistan had previously been accused by many
world leaders of not dissuading the Taliban from acting within its borders. Attacks such as this one bring to light the inner
tensions that a country like Pakistan lives with, and how hard it can be to do the right thing.
#3:
ISIS claimed responsibility for this next horrendous event in France. Spanning two days from November 13 to 14, 2015,
assailants shot and used explosives that killed 130 people in Paris, and wounded 494 others. People in restaurants, a
concert hall, a sports stadium, and just on the sidewalk were the defenseless targets. The shooters attacked with assault
rifles, and as suicide bombers. In the end, a three-month national state of emergency was declared in France and security
laws were tightened. These included giving authorities more ability to block websites that promote terrorism, to carry out
searches without warrants, and to place suspicious people under house arrest.
In 2019, the US had the highest number of mass killings ever recorded in a single year in the country, with 41 events and 211
people killed.
Yep, 211 deaths caused in 41 separate events. Not exactly up there with the top 3 mass shootings, are they?
In fact, the US comes in at #6 with the Las Vegas shooting, #9 at the Orlando Night Club, #12 with the VA Tech shooting and #14 at Sandy Hook Elementary.
Since the list was compiled in 2020, obviously the recent Uvalde shooting isn't mentioned. Given the 21 fatalities reported, that would make the list -- tied with the San Ysidro McDonald's Massacre in California in 1984.
The list spans almost 40 years starting in 1982, and it lists the top 51 worst shootings in the ENTIRE WORLD.
Making mass shootings into a uniquely United States epidemic is not only dishonest, it diverts attention away from other violence that could actually be prevented more easily than these rare events.
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-deadliest-mass-shootings-in-history.html