BELLINGHAM — Of the 48 active shooter incidents that took place across the U.S. last year, four occurred in Washington state, according to an FBI report released earlier this week.
That’s the second-highest total of any state, behind California which had eight. Texas also saw four active shooter events, defined by the FBI as an incident involving a shooter “actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area.”
- Why did WA see a rise in shootings?
Washington’s four active shooter incidents resulted in 12 deaths, tied for the seventh most of any state. That’s after the state didn’t see a single incident in 2022, 2021 or 2020. According to the FBI. Washington had 14 active shooter incidents between 2000 and 2019, the sixth most of any state.
According to Amy Alexander, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Seattle office, it’s difficult to tell whether or not the rise in active shooter events last year is the start of a trend.
“It’s kind of hard to say, because of the nature of an active shooter event,” Alexander said in a phone call with McClatchy.
Alexander cited a report that looked at active shooter incidents between 2000 and 2013, and determined there were few links between them.
“They weren’t seeing a lot of similarity in the demographics of the shooter,” Alexander said. “The majority of them are male, and the majority are single shooters. But other than that, there’s a lot of range in demographics, from younger shooters to older. So I’m not aware of a way to draw a conclusion as to why this data for 2023 looks different than previous year.”
The first of Washington’s active shooter incidents in 2023 occurred in Renton and SeaTac, resulting in one death and two injuries. Later that month, three people were killed in a shooting at a Circle K in Yakima. The state’s third active shooter incident, which occurred in June, took place during a music festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre, while the final incident took place in Federal Way in December.
While it’s possible that the spike in shootings last year, after three straight years without an active shooter event in the state, was related to pandemic-related restrictions being lifted, Alexander said there wasn’t enough evidence to reach that conclusion.
“I wouldn’t want to speculate on that, but I can say that these incidents are taking place in public places. For example, we have five location categories: open space, commerce, education, health care, and residence. So other than residence, those are all places where people gather,” Alexander said.
Nationally, active shooter incidents were down slightly from 2022, which saw 50, but had risen sharply since the 2010s, which saw an average of 23 incidents a year across the decade. The five year period of 2019 to 2023 saw 89% more active shooters than the previous five years.
- FBI emergency preparedness tips
According to Alexander, the public can help prevent shootings by reporting behaviors that might be an indication someone is plotting a shooting to 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov.
“If you look in the study of pre-attack behaviors report, it says that at least one person noticed a concerning behavior in every active shooter’s life, but not all of those are reported to law enforcement,” Alexander said.
Alexander also said the FBI wants people to be aware of its active shooter event preparedness resources .
“We have a variety of resources on our website to equip people with more information…There are a couple of videos about ‘run, hide and fight.’ There’s a bar video, there’s also a school video, that kind of tells people what to do,” Alexander said.
If you want to learn more about active shooter incident preparedness, the FBI maintains a list on its website of steps people can take to lower the chance of death or injury for themselves and those around them.
