This is an incomplete list of mass stabbings in the United States. A mass stabbing is a single incident in which multiple victims are harmed or killed in a knife-enabled crime. In such attacks, sharp objects are thrust at the victim, piercing through the skin and harming the victim.[1] Examples of sharp instruments used in mass stabbings may include kitchen knives, utility knives, sheath knives, scissors, Katanas, hammers, screwdrivers, icepicks, bayonets, axes, machetes and glass bottles.[1] Knife crime poses security threats to many countries around the world.[1]
A mass stabbing can be defined from a number of different perspectives. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the verb ‘stab’ as an action that propels a pointed weapon with the intention of harm or murder.[2] A mass stabbing is an incident involving the use of pointed weapons to wound or kill multiple people. Mass stabbings can also be looked at from the scope of knife crime. Based on a publication by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, ‘knife-enabled crime’ is an incident where harm is threatened or caused with the use of bladed weapons.[3] The media also refers to ‘knife crime’ as a stabbing incident or the illegal possession of knives by a person in the public.[3]
From a legal perspective, the phrase mass killing can be used to define a mass stabbing. Based on section 2 of the Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act of 2012 of the United States of America, which was signed into law and published by the US Congress on 13 January 2013, ‘mass killing’ is an individual occasion with three or more people murdered.[4] Mass stabbings can also be looked at from the perspective of mass murder. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States of America has defined mass murder as an incident where four or more people are killed in a single incident on a continuing basis without any significant time period in between each of the murders.[5]
High-profile crimes in the United States in which multiple people were stabbed are listed here. According to a database published by USA Today, as of March 5, 2024, 44 mass murders in the United States since 2006 involved a knife, and 44 involved another sharp object.[6]
2020 Knox County stabbing: A man stabbed four women with a knife, three fatally, at a truck stop before being shot to death by a responding police officer.[13]
The stabber injured two people near the intersection of Tejon and Boulder streets before fleeing on the walking trails of the America the Beautiful Park. As police pursued the suspect, they found several more victims throughout the park. More people were stabbed at a third location before police apprehended a suspect.[14]
A homeless man stabbed nine people at a birthday party outside of an apartment complex, killing a 3-year-old girl and injuring eight others. The perpetrator was sentenced to two life prison terms plus 120 years for the attack.[16]
Ohio State University attack: After driving into a crowd of pedestrians in his car, a lone-wolf Islamic terrorist grabbed a butcher knife and stabbed several people before being shot and killed by a police officer.[18]
2016 Sacramento riot: Members of the Traditionalist Workers Party (TWP) and Golden State Skinheads rallied outside of the California State Capitol. Counter-protesters from Antifa and BAMN – armed with wooden bats, sticks, fireworks, and other weapons – confronted the other protesters. Violence ensued, resulting in ten people being hospitalized for stabbing and laceration wounds. Four people, three Antifa members and one TWP member, were arrested in connection to the riot.[19]
2016 Silver City Galleria attack: A mentally ill man broke into a house and stabbed two people, killing one. He then stole a car and crashed it into the Silver City Galleria mall, where he proceeded to stab two more people at a Bertucci's restaurant, one fatally, and assaulted three more people before being shot to death by an off-duty sheriff's deputy.[20]
2016 Ohio restaurant machete attack: A man stabbed four people at a restaurant with a machete. After fleeing the scene in a car, police officers performed a PIT maneuver, causing him to crash. He was then shot dead by police officers after lunging at them with the machete and a filet knife.[21]
Broken Arrow killings: Two brothers stabbed five members of their family to death with knives at their house and attempted to kill their younger sister.[24]
2014 Isla Vista killings: A misogynistic man fatally stabbed three men in his apartment before he shot 11 people, four fatally, and struck seven others with his car before shooting himself to death.[25]
Spring High School stabbing: A 17-year-old student stabbed four people, one fatally, with a pocket knife during a fight in one of the school's hallways before being arrested.[28]
Lone Star College–CyFair stabbings: A 20-year-old student entered multiple classrooms and stabbed 14 people with an x-acto knife and scalpel before he was incapacitated by multiple students.[29]
Maksim Gelman stabbing spree: A man stabbed his step-father to death following an argument before fleeing in his step fathers vehicle. He proceeded to stab eight more people until he was incapacitated by a would-be victim and arrested once police arrived.[30]
Marco Allen Chapman murders: A man entered a woman's home in Warsaw, Kentucky after asking to use the telephone, before raping and stabbing her, and stabbing three of her children, two of whom died.[31]
