Reports Indicate a Mother Shot and Killed Her Four Children Before Killing Herself
Shooting Is at Least the 15th Mass Shooting in 2018 and 191st Since 2009
COLUMBIA, Tenn. – The Tennessee chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, released the following statement in response to reports of a mass shooting at a home in Columbia. Reports indicate that Monday night a mother shot and killed her four children before killing herself.
“This morning, I am thinking of the children whose lives were cut short last night and who they might have grown up to be, said Rachel Kromer, a volunteer with the Tennessee chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “Gun violence takes far too much from us and robs far too many children of their futures. Now is the time for our elected leaders to take action to protect our families from further violence.”
Research by Everytown for Gun Safety shows that this is at least the 191st mass shooting since January 2009, and the 15th mass shooting this year. Everytown defines mass shootings as those in which four or more people are shot and killed, excluding the shooter. Everytown analysis of mass shootings from 2009 to 2016 is available here.
Firearms are the second leading cause of death for American children and teens and the first leading cause of death for Black children and teens. Nearly 1,600 children and teens die by gun homicide every year. For children under the age of 13, these gun homicides frequently occur in the home and are often connected to domestic or family violence. Additional research on gun violence in America is available here.
