© Guardian
July was the deadliest month of 2015 so far for killings by police after registering 118 fatalities, according to the
Guardian's ongoing investigation The Counted, which now projects that US law enforcement is on course to kill more than 1,150 people this year.
The July figure brought an end to a steady decline in totals over the previous four months. After 113 people were killed in March, 101 died in April, 87 fatalities were recorded in May and 78 in June.
At least 20 people killed in July - more than one in six - were unarmed, including Samuel DuBose, who was shot by University of Cincinnati officer Ray Tensing in a 19 July traffic stop that has become the latest flashpoint in protests over the police's use of deadly force.
Of the 118 people,
106 died from gunfire, making July also the first month of 2015 in which that number has exceeded 100.
Two people died after officers shocked them with Tasers, two died being struck by police vehicles, and eight died after altercations in police custody.
The Counted is recording every killing by police in the US this year because the federal government does not currently publish a comprehensive database. Instead the FBI runs a voluntary program in which agencies may submit numbers of "justifiable homicides".
Tensing had claimed DuBose dragged him with his car, but footage recorded by Tensing's body camera refuted his account. The officer was charged with murder on Wednesday, when at a press conference the Cincinnati prosecutor Joe Deters called the shooting "senseless" and said Tensing "should never have been a police officer".
Comment: The United States could learn a thing of two from Norway, if only that the U.S. is a police state. See: With 118 fatalities, July is deadliest month for police killings in the U.S.