WATCH: What to do in an active shooter situation
A previous FBI study of such shootings found that between 2000 and 2001, an average of 3.5 incidents occurred annually. Now - in years 2014 and 2015 - that number has multiplied nearly six times, to an average of 20 active shooter incidents each year (in a two-year period). See here how the average incidents in two-year periods have grown over the past 16 years:
AVERAGE NUMBER OF ACTIVE SHOOTER INCIDENTS IN TWO-YEAR PERIOD
2000-2001: 3.5 incidents
2002-2003: 7.5
2004-2005: 6.5
2006-2007: 12
2008-2009: 13.5
2010-2011: 18
2012-2013: 19
2014-2015: 20
Here are those same numbers in graph format:
The FBI defines an active shooter incident as 'an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area.' Implicit in this definition is that the subject's criminal actions involve the use of firearms.
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Some other new stats from FBI on incidents and shooters from 2014 and 2015:
- Over the two years, 92 killed, and 139 wounded (not including the shooters) in a total of 40 incidents.
- Three female and 39 male shooters conducted the 40 incidents. Husband-and-wife teams carried out 2 different incidents. One shooter was a preteen, 5 were in their teens, 16 were in their 20s, 5 were in their 30s, 8 were in their 40s, 5 were in their 50s, 1 was in his 60s, and 1 was in his 70s.
- Sixteen (38.1%) of the 42 shooters committed suicide: 7 at the scene before law enforcement arrived, 7 at the scene after law enforcement arrived, and 2 at another location.
- Fourteen (33.3%) of the 42 shooters were killed by law enforcement, including 1 killed by an off-duty officer. Twelve of them were killed at the scene.
- Twelve (28.6%) of the 42 shooters were apprehended, 7 by law enforcement alone and 5 through citizen involvement.
ABC News contributed to this report.