Get the Facts: How common is violence at churches, houses of worship?

GRAND BLANC, Mich. —

In August, two children were killed and nearly 30 were injured when a shooter fired bullets through a stained glass window during a Catholic School Mass in Minnesota . Almost exactly one month later, four people were killed while attending service at a Mormon church in Michigan .

These are part of a larger — but rare — pattern of violence at religious institutions.

While homicides at houses of worship are infrequent, they do occur.

Over the past 25 years, there have been about 380 incidents at religious institutions that have resulted in about 490 deaths and 170 injuries. That’s according to data gathered by the Violence Prevention Project that tracks cases where at least one person was killed at or near a house of worship, including in the parking lot.

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