The Washington Post counted 888 people in the U.S. who were shot and killed by police in 2021. In previous years, more people - about 1,000 annually - had died this way. As the below infographic shows, most of those killed by police were male and armed. While the race of more than half of those shot and killed by police in 2021 was not known, 201 of the deceased were white, while 113 were Black. This equals 52 percent and 29 percent, respectively, of those for whom a race is known. The share of Black people is elevated here, keeping in mind that only close to 13 percent of Americans belong to that race group.
Around 61 percent of those killed by police carried a gun themselves. But in the case of more than 100 people, they were either unarmed or it is unknown whether they carried a weapon. In 26 cases, the deceased had been seen with a toy weapon that was mistaken for the real thing.
Out of the 888 killed, 127 were listed as having shown signs of mental illness.
