Collection: Mass Shootings in USA

17 Articles

A collection of dubious claims and debunked rumors in the wake of mass casualties.

Image via Spencer Platt/Getty Images

An 18-year-old man is suspected of opening fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022, killing 18 children and three adults, including at least one teacher. Authorities said the suspect, Salvador Ramos, was killed by police.

The massacre marks another grim milestone in an ongoing series of mass shootings in the U.S. Because such events are often surrounded by unfounded rumors and social media misinformation, Snopes has covered them extensively.

Often accompanying mass shootings are conspiratorial rumors and dubious claims about the events that transpired. Below is a compilation of our reporting on related stories.

Does the U.S. Experience Far More School Shootings Than Any Other Country? CNN got the basic facts about international school shooting frequencies right, albeit in a list...

Was March 2020 the First March Since 2002 Without a US School Shooting? The definition of a "school shooting" varies depending on whom you ask.

Was the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting a Hoax? A video supposedly documenting that the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School were a staged...

Did the U.S. Have 251 Mass Shootings in the First 216 Days of 2019? The number of mass shootings varies greatly depending on how such shootings are defined.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting memorial

Why Do Mass Shootings Spawn Conspiracy Theories? While conspiracy theories are not limited to any topic, one type of event seems particularly...

a list of massacres in the u.s. purported to be done with an ar-15

Were AR-15s Used in These Mass Shootings? A viral meme asserted that AR-15 style weapons have frequently been used to commit deadly...

Were AR-15s Used in Every Major Mass Shooting in the United States After Aurora? An attempt to link the rifle to several major mass attacks circulated widely online in...

Did Buffalo Shooting Suspect Attack Fox News in ‘Manifesto’? The screed mentioned the "Great Replacement Theory," a white supremacist narrative that has also found...

Hand holding mobile phone against dark background

Did the FBI ‘Wipe’ the Phones of Las Vegas Massacre Eyewitnesses? A widespread story claiming the Federal Bureau of Investigation had erased Las Vegas witnesses' cell...

Conspiracy Theories Spring Up, Spread in the Wake of Las Vegas Mass Shooting Confusion in the immediate aftermath of a mass shooting and the churning out of false...

Did a Second Gunman Shoot From the Fourth Floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel? Conspiracy theorists spread false information that a second person targeted a country music concert crowd...

Was the Security Guard at Mandalay Bay an ‘Accomplice’ to the Las Vegas Mass Shooter? Dubious and fake news web sites reported, without a shred of evidence, that the security...

Does a Meme Show the Faces of Suspected Mass Shooters in U.S. in 2019? After two shooting massacres in August 2019 in the U.S., some commentators focused on the...

Did 26 of the 27 Deadliest Mass Shooters Come from Fatherless Homes? Remember the children's "telephone" game, whereby a message passed from one person to another ends...

Were None of 154 Mass Shootings in 2018 Committed by a Black Man, Illegal Alien, or Woman? A hyperpartisan Facebook page gave readers an incomplete picture of mass shootings in America in...

Does the United States Have a Lower Death Rate From Mass Shootings Than European Countries? A pro-gun rights economist used questionable statistical methods to create a misleading impression.

Conspiracy Theories About Mass and School Shootings, Explained Why do the same sets of shooting conspiracy theories and tropes appear every time there...