Watchdog group says FBI undercounts incidents in which armed civilians stop active shooters

A new analysis by the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) found that the FBI has understated the number of times armed civilians have stopped active shooter incidents in the United States.

According to the FBI, civilians stopped just 14 out of 374 active shooter cases between 2014 and 2024, which is a rate of 3.7%. 

But the CPRC, a nonprofit data watchdog on crime issues, said it uncovered 561 incidents during the same period, with armed citizens stopping 202 of them, or 36%. CPRC said the percentage jumped to 52.5% when excluding shootings that occurred in “gun-free zones.” 

According to the CPRC, the FBI’s data is off, in part, because in some cases civilians who intervened were listed as “security guards,” even when they were private citizens. The group also found that armed bystanders who thwarted attacks were not counted if the suspects fled.

The FBI had classified the 2019 church shooting in White Settlement, Texas, involving a parishioner who shot and killed the gunman as being thwarted by a security guard, even though the man was not a security professional.

The CPRC also noted that the FBI excluded some cases it labels “domestic disputes” or “retaliation murders” from its data about civilians stopping active shooters.

You can read the full report here.

CPRC President John Lott said the group’s data shows that armed civilians stopping shootings is more common than mainstream media coverage shows. 

During the 2022 mall shooting in Greenwood, Ind., Elisjsha Dicken, 22, stopped a gunman who killed three people. 

Reuters and CNN were among the news outlets that referred to the situation as “uncommon.”

“Of course, law-abiding citizens stopping these attacks are not rare. What is rare is not citizens stopping these attacks—it’s the national news covering it,” Lott wrote.

The FBI has said that its reports on this issue are “not intended to explore all active shooting incidents” but they provide a “baseline understanding.” 

Some argue that the FBI’s data compilation practices can skew public opinion.

“The cascading effect is incredibly deleterious,” Theo Wold, a former U.S. Justice Department official, said. “When the Bureau gets it so systematically wrong, it shapes the entire national debate.”

Still, many Americans believe armed citizens are more effective at stopping active shooters.

According to a 2022 Trafalgar Group poll, 42% of voters said that armed citizens were the best defense against mass shootings, while 25% said it was local police. 

The FBI did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication.