The United States has witnessed the lowest number of mass killings in 2025 in two decades, according to a database tracking such incidents.

A recent shooting at a family gathering in Stockton, California, that left four people dead, was the 17th mass killing this year, The Associated Press – which maintains the database alongside USA Today and Northeastern University – reported on Tuesday.

While that figure could yet rise in December, it is a drop of nearly 59 percent from 2019, when a record 41 mass killings occurred.

The database uses police and FBI reports, media articles and court records to track mass killings, defined as incidents in which four or more people were killed intentionally within a 24-hour period, not including any offender.

‘Regression to the mean’

James Alan Fox,

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