At the time, the shooting at a Colorado high school was the deadliest school attack in US history. But then came Virginia Tech, and Sandy Hook.
With 13 victims dead, it was also one of the deadliest shootings overall. But then came San Bernardino, Orlando, Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs and Parkland.
Three of the five deadliest shootings have occurred in just the last year and a half.
Below is a list of the 10 deadliest single-day mass shootings in modern US history. If the shooter was killed or died by suicide during the incident, that death is not included in the total.
1. The Harvest Music Festival: 58 killed
2. Pulse night club: 49 killed
June 12, 2016 – Omar Saddiqui Mateen, 29, opens fire inside Pulse, a gay nightclub, in Orlando. At least 49 people are killed and more than 50 are injured. Police shoot and kill Mateen during an operation to free hostages officials say he was holding at the club.
3. Virginia Tech: 32 killed
4. Sandy Hook: 27 killed
5. First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs: 26 killed
6. Luby’s Cafeteria: 23 killed
October 16, 1991 – In Killeen, Texas, 35-year-old George Hennard crashes his pickup truck through the wall of a Luby’s Cafeteria. After exiting the truck, Hennard shoots and kills 23 people. He then takes his own life.
7. McDonald’s in San Ysidro: 21 killed
July 18, 1984 – In San Ysidro, California, 41-year-old James Huberty, armed with a long-barreled Uzi, a pump-action shotgun and a handgun, shoots and kills 21 adults and children at a McDonald’s. A police sharpshooter kills Huberty one hour after the rampage begins.
8. University of Texas: 18 killed
August 1, 1966 – Charles Joseph Whitman, a former US Marine, kills 16 and wounds at least 30 while shooting from a tower at the University of Texas at Austin. Police officers Ramiro Martinez and Houston McCoy shoot and kill Whitman in the tower. Whitman had killed his mother and wife earlier in the day.
9. Parkland, Florida: 17 killed.
February 14, 2018 – A former student opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, killing a teacher, coach, athletics director and 14 students. Nikolas Cruz, 19, confessed to being the gunman, according to a probable cause affidavit, and is charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
10. San Bernardino, California: 14 killed
11. Edmond, Oklahoma: 14 killed
August 20, 1986 – In Edmond, Oklahoma, part-time mail carrier Patrick Henry Sherrill, armed with three handguns, kills 14 postal workers in 10 minutes and then takes his own life with a bullet to the head.
12: Columbine High School: 13 killed
April 20, 1999 – Eric Harris, 18, and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold kill 12 fellow students and one teacher at their high school in Littleton, Colorado. The pair then committed suicide in the school library.
Source : CNN