Familicides in the US surge to at least 17 in 2026, up from six last year
Researchers and advocates point to easy gun access as the common thread behind a spike in family mass killings across the US.
What to know
- Northeastern University data shows at least 17 familicides in the US so far in 2026, versus six in all of 2025, the lowest count in at least two decades.
- Experts say triggers — estrangement, financial stress, marital disputes — occur in high-income countries at similar rates, but US gun ownership and access make impulsive mass killings far more likely.
- Recent cases include a June killing of six by Ryan McFarland in Muscatine, Iowa; an August killing of eight relatives including four children by Alan Smith in Billings, Montana; and a September case in Texas where four adults who had taken in the alleged shooter were killed.
“Often in the intimate partner situation, it involves things like jealousy and just the kind of psychic pain involved in suicidal crisis overall.”
Katherine Keyes, Columbia University epidemiology professor · The Guardian ↗ · Sep 18
Jacquelyn Campbell Johns Hopkins nursing professorKatherine Keyes Columbia University epidemiology professorBrad Ireland Father of two children killed in the Montana familicideJonathan McFarland Sole survivor of the Iowa family killingAlan Smith Perpetrator, Billings, Montana familicideRyan McFarland Perpetrator, Muscatine, Iowa familicide
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Guardian links US familicide spike to firearm access
Citing Northeastern University data showing at least 17 familicides in 2026, the Guardian reports experts attribute the rise chiefly to the ease of accessing guns in the US compared with other high-income countries.
“There are way too many guns around and easy to pick up, and when someone is in some sort of a rage place, guns get picked up in anger.”
— Jacquelyn Campbell -
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‘Way too many guns around’: the common theme in US family killings
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Shooter kills four adults in Texas family that had taken him in — An alleged shooter killed four adults in a Texas family that had taken him in, one of the most recent cases cited in the Guardian's tally of 2026 familicides.
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Alan Smith kills eight relatives at a Montana family dinner — Weeks after his parents asked him to move out, Smith killed four generations of his family, including four children, at a Sunday dinner in Billings, Montana.
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Ryan McFarland kills six family members in Muscatine, Iowa — After a domestic dispute, McFarland — who had prior charges including child endangerment resulting in death, armed robbery and burglary — shot and killed his wife and five other family members before killing himself.
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US familicides hit lowest level in two decades in 2025 — Northeastern University data cited by the Guardian shows only six familicide incidents occurred in 2025, the lowest total in at least 20 years, setting up the contrast with 2026's sharp rise.
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2 outlets ‘Way too many guns around’: experts say firearm access key factor in spate of US family killings
first by Guardian, 4d ago · also Guardian US