CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA (WHTM) — Earlier today there was an active shooter situation at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York County, now joining several other mass shootings that have taken place in Pennsylvania throughout the years.

According to Britannica, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines a mass shooting as an event in which one or more individuals are “actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.

Back on October 2, 2006, there was a mass shooting at the West Nickel Mines School in Lancaster County in which a gunman, Charles Roberts, took 10 girls hostage – killing five of them before taking his own life.

More recently, back in October 2018, an extremist attacked the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, claiming the lives of 11 worshippers. The attack would later be described as the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history.

The shooter, Robert Bowers, was later sentenced to death in August 2023.

According to CeaseFirePA, every year 1,600 Pennsylvanians die from gun violence. Specifically in York County, there are approximately 13.5 gun-related deaths per 100,000 people.

As it relates to the United States as a whole, the Associated Press says there have been 614 mass killings since 2006, and 3,170 lives lost as a result of a mass shooting.

abc27 news will keep you updated as more information becomes available.