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Massacre in US state of Maine marks country’s 565th mass shooting in 2023, NGO reports

According to the media, the death toll in this single incident is nearly equal to the average annual number of homicide victims in all of Maine

© AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

NEW YORK, October 26. /TASS/. A shooting incident with multiple victims in Lewiston, Maine, has become the 565th mass shooting recorded year to date in the United States in 2023, the non-profit organization The Gun Violence Archive reports.

"2023 Worst Mass Shooting unfolding tonight in Lewiston Maine... current numbers show 16 killed, 25 or more injured. This is the 565th Mass Shooting this year, the 31st Mass Murder," the organization wrote on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

According to the Fox News Channel, at least 22 people have died as a result of the shooting. The number of injured may be as high as 60.

As NBC News notes, the death toll in this single incident is nearly equal to the average annual number of homicide victims in all of Maine, a largely rural state in the far northeastern US. Last year, 29 people were killed in Maine, while 20 homicide victims were recorded in the state in 2020. Lewiston has about 40,000 inhabitants.

US President Joe Biden was informed of the incident.

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