Monday's violent shooting on the Virginia Tech campus sent shockwaves across college campuses nationwide, as first-hand accounts and cell phone videos brought the incident to life - and close to home. The shooter's apparent lack of motive for most of the killings made the story even more horrific to many viewers, listeners and readers. While the brutal and shocking nature of the story has brought intense attention to this particular event, millions of violent deaths occur much more quietly each year. In this installment of "By the Numbers," the Daily looks at how some of the statistics behind Monday's attacks fit into broader trends of violence in America.
33 Number of people who died in the Virginia Tech shootings, including the shooter17 Number of people who were injured in the shootings23 Age of the alleged shooter
16 Number of deaths in the 1966 University of Texas shooting, which was the most deadly campus shooting to date prior to Monday's attacks13 Number of deaths in the 1999 Columbine High School shootings22 Number of deaths in the deadliest shooting in American history prior to Monday's attacks. It took place in Killeen, Texas in 1991.
22 Number of American soldiers who died in Iraq in the week from April 7 to April 14, according to CNN.com12 Number of those soldiers who were college-aged, between 18 and 24 years old56 Total Number of soldiers who died in Iraq this month, between April 1 and April 1431 Number of those soldiers who were college-aged, between 18 and 24 years old
5 Weeks before the shootings that the alleged shooter bought his gun, according to the Roanoake Times$571 Amount of money the alleged shooter spent on the gun purchase, which included 50 bullets160,000 Number of guns the owner of that gun shop said he's sold since it opened in 1998
2,879,049 Number of firearms manufactured in the U.S. in 2005, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives200 million Approximate number of firearms in America300 million Approximate number of people in America
Over 1,000,000 Number of Americans who have died from firearm suicides, homicides and unintentional incidents since 1960, according to the National Rifle Association2 Rank of such incidents in cause of death for Americans aged 15 to 24477,040 Number of violent crime victims in 2005 who said they faced an offender with a gun, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics66 Percentage of the 16,137 murders in 2004 that were committed with firearms
-compiled from the New York Times, CNN, the Roanoke Times, The National Rifle Association, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Committee to Stop Gun Violence
