Sign in
Special Report

The region's three deadliest mass shootings since 2006 were at a university and two workplaces

By The Washington Clarion Special Reports Desk Oct. 17, 2026, 10:20 a.m. ET

Share
XFacebookLinkedIn
Chart of every shooting that killed four or more people in D.C., Maryland and Virginia since 2006, by year

A shooting Thursday at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, killed three children and a teacher, police said. Across D.C., Maryland and Virginia, the deadliest since 2006 were attacks at a university and two workplaces. Of the 22 confirmed, 14 happened in homes. By jurisdiction, Virginia had 12, Maryland eight and the District two.

Since 2006, at least 22 shootings in D.C., Maryland and Virginia have killed four or more people, not counting the shooter, a Washington Clarion review of news reports and police records found. They killed 137 people and wounded at least 37 more.

At least one more such shooting appears in other databases or FBI homicide records but could not yet be confirmed in two independent sources, so it is not counted here.

There is no single definition of a mass shooting. The AP/USA Today/Northeastern University database counts killings of four or more people, the threshold used here. The Gun Violence Archive counts shootings in which four or more people are shot, killed or wounded, a far larger number. Mother Jones counts only public attacks.

Family killings were the largest group

Family killings, in which most victims were the shooter's relatives or partners or a partner's household, numbered nine. Public attacks numbered five. Another crime, such as a robbery, a drug deal or a fight between rival groups, was behind two cases. The remaining six cases were other or unsolved.

The deadliest

The deadliest was at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg in 2007, where 32 people were killed. The Washington Navy Yard attack in 2013 and the 2019 shooting at a Virginia Beach city government building each killed 12.

Around Washington

Of the 22, at least eight happened in the District or the parts of Maryland and Virginia The Washington Clarion covers.

At schools

One of the 22 happened at a school or college: Blacksburg, Virginia, April 16, 2007 (university, 32 killed).

The bigger picture

Mass shootings are a small share of gun deaths. In 2024, 148 District residents died from gunshot wounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: 19.7 per 100,000 residents after adjusting for age, against 12.8 nationally. Of those deaths, 13 were suicides and 134 were homicides.

In 2024, 716 Maryland residents died from gunshot wounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: 11.6 per 100,000 residents after adjusting for age, 38th highest among the 50 states, against 12.8 nationally. Of those deaths, 302 were suicides and 404 were homicides.

In 2024, 1,153 Virginia residents died from gunshot wounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: 12.8 per 100,000 residents after adjusting for age, 28th highest among the 50 states, the same as the national rate. Of those deaths, 729 were suicides and 395 were homicides.

How we did this

The Washington Clarion counted every shooting from Jan. 1, 2006, through Oct. 15, 2026, in which four or more people were killed within 24 hours, not counting the shooter, and gunfire caused most or all of the deaths. Victims who died within seven days of the attack are counted; unborn children are not. A shooting that crossed state lines is counted in the state where most victims died. Each case was confirmed in at least two independent sources: news reports, statements from police or prosecutors, court records or, in some cases, the FBI's homicide records, which police agencies file for each killing. Some dates are when the victims were found. We started from leads in the AP/USA Today/Northeastern University Mass Killing Database, the Mother Jones and Stanford mass-shooting databases, the Gun Violence Archive and Wikipedia's yearly lists, then searched news archives for cases those lists missed. Leads we could not yet confirm in two sources are not counted, so the totals are minimums. Cases are grouped as family killings (the victims were mainly the shooter's relatives or partners), killings tied to another crime such as a robbery or drug dispute, public attacks, and other or unsolved cases.

Sources: news reports and, where available, police, prosecutor and court records for each case, listed below. Gun deaths: CDC, Stats of the States and CDC WONDER (Underlying Cause of Death, 2024 final).

Every case

More from The Clarion

All news ›

Comments (0)

Sign in with a free account to join the conversation.Sign in

Loading comments…