Location categories

CATEGORIES: Attacks occurred in five location categories:

WHERE INCIDENTS OCCURRED | TOTAL WOUNDED | 115 Commerce | 14 | Civilian | 109 Law Enforcement | 5 Open Space | 7 | Security | 1

Government | 6 | TOTAL KILLED | 51 Civilian | 47 Education | 4 | Law Enforcement | 3 Security House of Worship 3 | 1

14 Commerce | 7 House of 6 4 3 Open Government Education Space Worship

In “A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013”, the FBI identified seven main location categories: commerce, education, government, health care, house of worship, open space, and residence.

These categories highlight environments most affected and inform prevention and response efforts.

| COMMERCE includes open and closed businesses like retail stores, restaurants, office space, and warehouses;

| EDUCATION includes pre-K schools through institutions of higher learning (IHL);

| GOVERNMENT includes military and non-military properties such as military bases, government owned property and courthouses;

| HEALTH CARE includes hospitals and clinics;

| HOUSE OF WORSHIP includes various religious sites such as churches, mosques, synagogues, and temples;

| OPEN SPACE includes outdoor public areas like streets and parks;

| RESIDENCE includes private homes and apartments.

Alternatively, government, education, and house of worship location categories accounted for only 38% of incidents in 2025 but resulted in more than half of all casualties.

Tracking data across location categories may help focus resources and strategies to prevent and respond to active shooter incidents.

The Annunciation Roman Catholic Church attack was categorized as a house of worship incident because it occurred inside the church.

Two of the incidents took place at commercial locations, while the third occurred at a house of worship.

CATEGORIES: Attacks occurred all in seven location categories:

41% - Open Space (89) • 36% - Commerce (78) • 8% - Education (17) • 6% - Government (14) • 4% - Residence (8) • 3% - House of worship (7) • 2% - Health Care (4)

This bar chart shows the number of active shooter incidents across each location category from 2021 through 2025, with separate bars for each year illustrating how incident counts vary by location.

From 2021 to 2025, active shooting attacks were disproportionately higher in the open space (89) and commerce (78) location categories, whereas the house of worship (7) and health care (4) location categories had the least number of attacks.

Average number of Incidents by location category: • Open Space: 17.8 • Commerce: 15.6 • Education: 3.4 • Government: 2.8 • Residence: 1.6 • House of Worship: 1.4 • Health Care: 0.8

This bar chart shows the total number of incidents within each location category from 2021 through 2025 on the left, and a breakdown of individuals killed and wounded by location category on the right.

Businesses Open to the Public: Private properties with the primary function of making, buying, or selling goods or providing services in exchange for money where the public is anticipated on a daily basis.

This category does not include locations otherwise defined more exclusively in another category, such as health care facilities, or institutions of higher education.