Americans are currently awaiting the final casualty figures following a violent incident involving gunfire and arson at a church in Michigan. CNN reports claims of “324 mass shootings” occurring in 2025.
This report came shortly after Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Reigner stated that the number of casualties might increase due to the discovery of more victims in the church’s charred remains.
In a subsequent update late on Sunday night, it was confirmed that two additional bodies were found in the burned church, bringing the total death toll to four. Interestingly, only two of those who died were shot.
Nevertheless, CNN appears intent on emphasizing the number of mass shootings this year, potentially relying on ambiguous statistics from gun violence archives.
CNN stated, “So far, there have been 324 mass shootings in the US, defined as instances where at least four people are shot.”
Back in November 2022, Breitbart News highlighted that using archived gun violence data, the number of mass shootings that year was reported to be over 600.
According to Breitbart, the gun violence archive defines mass shootings to include any incident involving a minimum of four individuals injured or killed, not accounting for any shooters who may have been involved. This inclusive definition means that various forms of gun violence, such as drive-by shootings, double or triple murders, gang-related incidents, and even non-fatal shooting events, are categorized as mass shootings.
The standard definition of mass shooting, derived from the FBI’s guidelines from the 1980s, involves “killing four or more people in a single incident (not including the perpetrator).” Thus, incidents with four or more deaths caused by a single shooter represent a key definition of mass shootings.
Also, it’s worth noting that the FBI’s classification of “mass murderer” does not necessarily align with the broader categorization provided by gun violence archives.
