Mass Killings In New Jersey: Here's How Many People Have Died

NEW JERSEY - At least 24 people have died in six mass killings in New Jersey since 2006, according to data compiled by The Associated Press and made available to Patch. At least three of those incidents happened at the Jersey Shore or in South Jersey.

Nationally, more than 2,400 people have died in 457 mass killings — defined by The AP as incidents in which four or more people died — in the past 15-year, four-month period.

They died by gunfire nearly 80 percent of the time (stabbings were the second-most frequent cause of death, occurring in 7 percent of cases); and victims died at the hands of family members almost as often as they did in school, workplace and other public venues.

The danger people face inside their homes at the hands of family members is echoed in a recent study by the Council on Criminal Justice showing that domestic violence spiked by 8.1 percent in the United States following the imposition of stay-at-home warnings to control the spread of the coronavirus.

"I'm just thinking of the toll that it's taken on victims of domestic violence, and then the children in the house who experience and witness that violence," researcher Alex Piquero, a professor in the department of sociology at the University of Miami and a criminologist who co-authored the study, told U.S. News & World Report.

Over the period analyzed by The AP, 998 people died in 219 mass killings committed by family members.

In New Jersey, there have been three mass killings committed by family members since 2006, resulting in 12 deaths.

Guns were used in all six of the mass killings in the Garden State.

Mass killings in New Jersey since 2006 include:

July 7, 2020 (Paterson): Seven people were shot - four of them fatally - in a hail of gunfire after 11 p.m. in what has since been deemed a gang-related incident.

December 10, 2019 (Jersey City): Officials believe the shooting began when a detective approached one of the gunmen at a nearby cemetery in connection with a homicide investigation and was shot dead. The gunmen then fled in a stolen rental truck and eventually ended up at a nearby kosher market, where they opened fire on police officers and civilians. Three of the civilians were killed. Subsequent reports suggest it may have been inspired by antisemitism.

Read more: Suspects, Victims ID'd After 6 Killed In Jersey City Shooting

November 20, 2018 (Colts Neck): Paul Caneiro killed his brother Keith, sister-in-law and his brother's two young children, presumably for a financial motive. The two brothers had established businesses together, but his brother was reportedly much more successful than Paul. In 2018, the once-booming business that the brothers shared had fallen on tough times, and Keith had recently found out that Paul had stolen $75,000 from the business. Keith also indicated that he wanted to sever his business relationship with Paul, and had sent his resume to other companies. Paul shot and killed his brother and his sister-in-law before stabbing their two children. He then lit their house on fire and drove home, lighting his own home on fire to make it look like a vendetta against the extended family.

Read more: Colts Neck Murder Suspect Took From College Fund, Lawsuit Alleges

December 31, 2017 (Long Branch): Scott Kologi, a 16=year-old who was homeschooled by his mother, killed his parents, sister, and grandfather's girlfriend with a rifle in their family home on New Year's Eve.

Read more: Long Branch Teen Indicted In Quadruple Murder Case

September 8, 2008 (Irvington): A robbery resulted in two suspects shooting and killing four people, then setting the house ablaze in an attempt to cover it up. Rolando Terrell was sentenced to life in prison. Lester Hayes worked out a plea deal and got a 20-year sentence.

Read more: Newark Bloods Member Found Guilty in Slayings

September 1, 2008 (Camden): A retired police officer shot and killed his wife, daughter, son and mother-in-law before committing suicide as they gathered for Labor Day dinner. The killing was precipitated by a "fierce argument" with his wife, police said.

While comprehensive, the AP database does not come close to measuring the enormous scope of gun violence and its toll on victims and their families, witnesses, first responders and society in general.

Much of the focus on mass killings has been on instances when a shooter opens fire in a crowded public place, as multimillionaire Stephen Paddock did in 2017 when he fired upon a concert crowd on the street below his Mandalay Bay hotel room, killing 60 people (two of the victims died years later from their injuries). Of the 867 people injured, 411 were by gunfire.

But experts say mass killings with high death counts are only a part of America’s problem with gun violence, overshadowing the increase in domestic and interpersonal violence.

Lisa Geller, state affairs manager at the nonprofit Coalition to Stop Gun Violence in Washington, told NBC News those shootings and killings are often seen as “private events.”

“If we're talking about mass shootings, those tend to be left out because they're seen as private events,” Geller said. “Some of these high-lethality events are inherently random, but if you include some of the events in private spaces, the role of domestic violence in mass shootings is large.”

What happened in 2020, a year many Americans spent isolated in their homes to control the spread of the coronavirus, bears that out.

Last year, there were 108 mass killings. That’s fewer than half the total of 237 in 2019, but the number of mass killings committed by family members increased.

In 2020, there were 31 such killings that left 136 people dead, compared with 20 mass killings that left 88 people dead in 2019.

The trend so far in 2021 is alarming, and if it continues at the current pace, the year will be as deadly as previous years. The AP database, current through April 28, shows a dozen mass killings with 68 total victims, five of them committed by family members and leaving 23 people dead.

The AP database does not include those who died in a spate of mass killings already in May, including those at a deadly Colorado birthday party over the weekend.