The bloodshed that played out in Brooklyn Tuesday morning was tragic, but was it unique? James Densley recently published the most detailed mass shooter database ever compiled and says his interest in the project began as a special education teacher in New York City.

When it comes to mass shootings in the United States and across the tri-state, Densley says the data paints a bleak picture. In 2021 there were 611 incidents where four or more people were shot in the U.S., up from 417 in 2020.

News 12 checked and the violence continues to spike. Already this year, there have been 131 mass shootings nationwide, including eight in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Some of the worst years on record were all in the last five years. Looking historically, some of the most famous mass shootings in history have occurred in the tri-state.

In Connecticut, there was Sandy Hook and in New Jersey there was something called the Walk of Death.

The events of Tuesday's subway station attack are reminiscent of the Long Island railroad shooting in 1993. The man who pulled the trigger in that tragedy, Colin Ferguson, recently wrote News 12 senior investigative reporter Tara Rosenblum a letter behind bars for an unrelated story on gun violence. Ferguson blamed much of his circumstances on perceived racial injustices in the legal system.

Ferguson said his "Suffering began the day he was born and made worse by racists."

No race is superior to another race, but Densley blames the spike in mass shootings on a long list of other factors.

"There's more guns in circulation today than they ever have been in history," said Densley. "They are easier to get and then and they are more available. At the same time, though, I think the global pandemic and sort of exposed a fragile social safety net within our society. It's leading to sort of rising anger and frustration. We're feeling very sort of disconnected from one another. And I think that bubbles over into violence that we see out on the streets."