research topics on school shootings

U.S. Government Accountability Office

K-12 Education: Characteristics of School Shootings

We examined school shootings and found:

Half were committed by current or former students

Suburban and rural, wealthier, and low-minority schools had more school-targeted shootings; such shootings were the most fatal and most commonly committed by students

Urban, poor, and high-minority schools had more shootings overall and more motivated by disputes; these shootings were often committed by non-students or unknown shooters

More shootings happened outside, but those inside schools were usually more deadly

We found no empirical research from 2009-2019 that directly examined the link between school discipline and school shootings.

Map of K-12 School Shootings in the United States, School Years 2009-10 through 2018-19

U.S. map showing 63 shootings in western states, 71 in the midwest, 156 in the south, and 28 in the northeast

What GAO Found

GAO found that shootings at K-12 schools most commonly resulted from disputes or grievances, for example, between students or staff, or between gangs, although the specific characteristics of school shootings over the past 10 years varied widely, according to GAO's analysis of the Naval Postgraduate School's K-12 School Shooting Database. (See figure.) After disputes and grievances, accidental shootings were most common, followed closely by school-targeted shootings, such as those in Parkland, Florida and Santa Fe, Texas.

K-12 School Shootings by Kind, School Years 2009-10 through 2018-19

The shooter in about half of school shootings was a student or former student; in the other half, the shooter had no relationship to the school, was a parent, teacher, or staff, or his or her relationship to the school was unknown, according to the data. When the shooting was accidental, a suicide, or school-targeted, the shooter was more often a student or former student. However, when the shooting was the result of a dispute or grievance, the shooter was someone other than a student in the majority of cases. For about one-fifth of cases, the shooter's relationship to the school was not known. (See figure.)

The characteristics of schools where shootings occurred over the past 10 years also varied by poverty level and racial composition. Urban, poorer, and high minority schools had more shootings overall, with more characterized as a dispute or grievance. Suburban and rural, wealthier, and low minority schools had more suicides and school-targeted shootings, which had the highest fatalities per incident. Overall, more than half of the 166 fatalities were the result of school-targeted shootings.

The location of the shootings more often took place outside the school building than inside the school building, but shootings inside were more deadly, according to the data. Shootings resulting from disputes occurred more often outside school buildings, whereas accidents and school-targeted shootings occurred more often inside school buildings. (See figure.)

GAO found no empirical research in the last 10 years (2009-2019) that directly examined the link between school discipline and school shootings. According to literature GAO examined and five study authors GAO interviewed, various factors contribute to the lack of research examining this particular link, including that multiple and complex factors affect an individual's propensity toward violence, making it difficult to isolate the effect of any one factor, including school discipline.

K-12 School Shootings by Shooter, School Years 2009-10 through 2018-19

Notes: Percentages do not add to 100 percent, due to rounding. “Unknown,” as recorded in the K-12 School Shooting Database, includes incidents in which the shooter was identified but the shooter’s relationship to the school could not be determined. “Other” combines four categories from the K-12 School Shooting Database: intimate relationship with victim, multiple shooters, students from a rival school, and non-students using athletic facilities/attending game.

K-12 School Shootings by Shooting Location and Kind of Shooting, School Years 2009-10 through 2018-19

Notes: The location of one of the 318 incidents was unknown, and therefore, excluded from this analysis. As a result, the total incidents in this analysis is 317. GAO combined three categories from the K-12 School Shooting Database into an “Outside the school building” category: outside on school property, off school property, and on school bus.

Why GAO Did This Study

In addition to the potential loss of life, school shootings can evoke feelings of profound fear and anxiety that disturb a community's sense of safety and security. Questions have been raised about whether schools' approaches to addressing student behavior are a factor in school shootings. These approaches include discipline that removes the offending students from the classroom or school, and preventative approaches meant to change student behaviors before problems arise.

GAO was asked to examine school shootings, including the link between discipline and shootings. This report examines 1) the characteristics of school shootings and affected schools, and 2) what is known about the link between discipline and school shootings. To do so, GAO analyzed data on school shootings and school characteristics for school years 2009-10 through 2018-19; and conducted a literature review to identify empirical research from 2009 to 2019 that examined discipline approaches in school, and the effects of these approaches on outcomes of school gun violence, school violence, or school safety. GAO also interviewed selected researchers to gather perspectives about challenges and limitations in conducting research on school discipline and school shootings.

For more information, contact Jacqueline M. Nowicki at (617) 788-0580 or [email protected] .

Full Report

Gao contacts, media inquiries, public inquiries.

School shootings: What we know about them, and what we can do to prevent them

Subscribe to the brown center on education policy newsletter, robin m. kowalski, ph.d. robin m. kowalski, ph.d. professor, department of psychology - clemson university.

January 26, 2022

On the morning of Nov. 30, 2021, a 15-year-old fatally shot four students and injured seven others at his high school in Oakland County, Michigan. It’s just one of the latest tragedies in a long line of the horrific K-12 school shootings now seared into our memories as Americans.

And we have seen that the threat of school shootings, in itself, is enough to severely disrupt schools. In December, a TikTok challenge known as “ National Shoot Up Your School Day ” gained prominence. Although vague and with no clear origin, the challenge warned of possible acts of violence at K-12 schools. In response, some schools nationwide cancelled classes, others stepped up security. Many students stayed home from school that day. (It’s worth noting that no incidents of mass violence ended up occurring.)

What are the problems that appear to underlie school shootings? How can we better respond to students that are in need? If a student does pose a threat and has the means to carry it out, how can members of the school community act to stop it? Getting a better grasp of school shootings, as challenging as it might be, is a clear priority for preventing harm and disruption for kids, staff, and families. This post considers what we know about K-12 school shootings and what we might do going forward to alleviate their harms.

Who is perpetrating school shootings?

As the National Association of School Psychologists says, “There is NO profile of a student who will cause harm.” Indeed, any attempt to develop profiles of school shooters is an ill-advised and potentially dangerous strategy. Profiling risks wrongly including many children who would never consider committing a violent act and wrongly excluding some children who might. However, while an overemphasis on personal warning signs is problematic, there can still be value in identifying certain commonalities behind school shootings. These highlight problems that can be addressed to minimize the occurrence of school shootings, and they can play a pivotal role in helping the school community know when to check in—either with an individual directly or with someone close to them (such as a parent or guidance counselor). Carefully integrating this approach into a broader prevention strategy helps school personnel understand the roots of violent school incidents and assess risks in a way that avoids the recklessness of profiling.

Within this framework of threat assessment, exploring similarities and differences of school shootings—if done responsibly—can be useful to prevention efforts. To that end, I recently published a study with colleagues that examined the extent to which features common to school shootings prior to 2003 were still relevant today. We compared the antecedents of K-12 shootings, college/university shootings, and other mass shootings.

We found that the majority of school shooters are male (95%) and white (61%) –yet many of these individuals feel marginalized. Indeed, almost half of those who perpetrate K-12 shootings report a history of rejection, with many experiencing bullying. One 16-year-old shooter wrote , “I feel rejected, rejected, not so much alone, but rejected. I feel this way because the day-to-day treatment I get usually it’s positive but the negative is like a cut, it doesn’t go away really fast.” Prior to the Parkland shooting, the perpetrator said , “I had enough of being—telling me that I’m an idiot and a dumbass.” A 14-year-old shooter stated in court, “I felt like I wasn’t wanted by anyone, especially  my mom. ” These individuals felt rejected and insignificant.

Our study also found that more than half of K-12 shooters have a history of psychological problems (e.g., depression, suicidal ideation, bipolar disorder, and psychotic episodes). The individuals behind the Sandy Hook and Columbine shootings, among others, had been diagnosed with an assortment of psychological conditions. (Of course, the vast majority of children with diagnosed psychological conditions don’t commit an act of mass violence. Indeed, psychologists and psychiatrists have warned that simply blaming mental illness for mass shootings unfairly stigmatizes those with diagnoses and ignores other, potentially more salient factors behind incidents of mass violence.) For some, the long-term rejection is compounded by a more acute rejection experience that immediately precedes the shooting. While K-12 school shooters were less likely than other mass shooters to experience an acute, traumatic event shortly before the shooting, these events are not uncommon.

Many shooters also display a fascination with guns and/or a preoccupation with violence. They play violent video games, watch violent movies, and read books that glorify violence and killing. Several of the shooters showed a particular fascination with Columbine, Hitler, and/or Satanism. They wrote journals or drew images depicting violence and gore. The continued exposure to violence may desensitize individuals to violence and provide ideas that are then copied in the school shootings.

To reiterate, however, there is no true profile of a school shooter. Plenty of people are bullied in middle and high school without entertaining thoughts of shooting classmates. Similarly, making and breaking relationships goes along with high school culture, yet most people who experience a break-up do not think of harming others. Anxiety and depression are common, especially in adolescence, and countless adolescents play violent video games without committing acts of violence in real life. Even if some commonalities are evident, we must recognize their limits.

What can we do?

Understanding the experiences of school shooters can reveal important insights for discerning how to prevent school shootings. So, what might we do about it?

First, the problems that appear to underlie some school shootings, such as bullying and mental-health challenges, need attention—and there’s a lot we can do. School administrators and educators need to implement bullying prevention programs, and they need to pay attention to the mental-health needs of their students. One way to do this is to facilitate “ psychological mattering ” in schools. Students who feel like they matter—that they are important or significant to others—are less likely to feel isolated, ostracized, and alone. They feel confident that there are people to whom they can turn for support. To the extent that mattering is encouraged in schools, bullying should decrease. Typically, we don’t bully people who are important or significant to us.

Second, because most of the perpetrators of K-12 shootings are under the age of 18, they cannot legally acquire guns. In our study , handguns were used in over 91% of the K-12 shootings, and almost half of the shooters stole the gun from a family member. Without guns, there cannot be school shootings. Clearly more needs to be done to keep guns out of the hands of youth in America.

Third, students, staff, and parents must pay attention to explicit signals of an imminent threat. Many shooters leak information about their plans well before the shooting. They may create a video, write in a journal, warn certain classmates not to attend school on a particular day, brag about their plans, or try to enlist others’ help in their plot. Social media has provided a venue for children to disclose their intentions. Yet, students, parents, and educators often ignore or downplay the warning signs of an imminent threat. Students often think their peers are simply expressing threats as a way of garnering attention. Even if the threats are taken seriously, an unwritten code of silence keeps many students from reporting what they see or hear. They don’t want to be a snitch or risk being the target of the would-be shooter’s rage. With this in mind, educators and administrators need to encourage reporting among students—even anonymously—and need to take those reports extremely seriously. Helpful information for teachers, administrators, and parents can be found at SchoolSafety.gov . In addition, Sandy Hook Promise provides information about school violence and useful videos for young people about attending to the warning signs that often accompany school shootings.

Fourth, school leaders should be aware that not every apparent act of prevention is worth the costs. Some people believe that lockdown drills, metal detectors, school resource officers, and the like are useful deterrents to school shootings and school violence more broadly. However, researchers have also demonstrated that they can increase anxiety and fear among students . Students may also become habituated to the drills, failing to recognize the seriousness of an actual threat should it arise. Additionally, most K-12 shooters are students within the school itself. These students are well-versed in the security measures taken by the school to try to deter acts of violence by individuals such as themselves. While few would suggest getting rid of lockdown drills and other security measures, educators and administrators need to be mindful of the rewards versus the costs in their selection of safety measures.

Ultimately, our goal should be creating an environment in which school shootings never occur. This is an ambitious aim, and it will be challenging work. But addressing some key issues, such as mental health, will go a long way toward preventing future tragedies in our schools. As so aptly demonstrated in the Ted Talk, “ I was almost a school shooter ,” by Aaron Stark, making someone feel that they have value and that they matter can go a long way toward altering that individual’s life and, consequently, the lives of others.

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K-12 School Shootings: Implications for Policy, Prevention, and Child Well-Being

Paul m reeping , ms, ariana gobaud , mph, charles c branas , phd, sonali rajan , edd.

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Corresponding author: Paul Reeping, MS, Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, 412-482-0162, [email protected]

Issue date 2021 Apr.

Schools should be considered safe spaces for children in society, as children need to feel secure in order to grow and learn. This chapter argues that when a school shooting occurs, the harm can go beyond just those who are injured or killed, as the presumption of security is shattered, and the mental and emotional health of the students exposed to the violence is threatened. There are many possible interventions for preventing these attacks, including on the school, state, and federal level. This chapter explores the evidence behind some these interventions and describes the delicate balance in implementing these interventions without introducing undue stress and anxiety into a child’s everyday life.

Keywords: School shootings, school safety, school violence, gun violence, active shootings, mass shootings

Introduction

On December 14 th , 2012, a 20-year-old male, not yet legally old enough to carry a handgun, would go on to commit the deadliest K-12 school shooting in United States history. 1 Earlier in the morning, he would first murder his mother, a firearms enthusiast, and steal her Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle, Izhmash Canta-12 12 gauge shotgun, SIG Sauer P226, and a Glock 20SF handgun, all of which were bought legally. 2 He then drove ten minutes away to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, a kindergarten through fourth grade primary school where over 400 were students enrolled. The school had security measures in place; for example: visitors needed to be identified and buzzed into the building, which was locked once the school day began. 1 Using the Bushmaster rifle, the perpetrator bypassed this system by shooting through plate glass in the front of the school. After killing the principal, school psychologist, and wounding a teacher who tried to stop the attack, he opened fire on two first-grade classrooms. 1 In one of the classrooms, he shot and killed a teacher and behavioral specialist who had attempted to shelter the students in the bathroom. He then murdered all the students except a six-year-old girl; she survived by hiding in the corner of the bathroom and playing dead, likely underneath her murdered classmates. Fifteen children perished in this classroom. 1 In the second classroom, the teacher and special needs teacher put themselves between the perpetrator and the children, and several students were able to escape the room when the shooter reloaded his firearm. Tragically, five students were still killed, including both teachers. Within approximately six minutes, twenty children (only 6–7 years old) and six adults were killed before the gunman committed suicide using the handgun. 1 This tragedy relaunched a national conversation about the occurrence of mass shootings, specifically the physical, psychological, and educational harm inflicted on children. Despite being touted as the “tipping point” in gun violence prevention, 3 only individual states have been successful in passing legislation in hopes of reducing mass shootings. To this day, there has not been significant legislation passed at the federal level to prevent these incidents from occurring in the future. 4

Using the most commonly used definition of a mass shooting—an incident where four or more individuals are killed by a single (or sometimes pair) of perpetrators 5 —studies have found that children and teens (individuals under the age of 18) make up a surprisingly high percentage of the victims killed in these tragedies. In 2019, children comprised 22% of the population in the United States, 6 and accounted for approximately 25% of victims in all mass shootings. 7 Children are even more likely to be victimized with a gun if the event occurs in the home. Between 2009 and 2016 there were 102 mass shootings, of which 71 occurred in the home, and 31 in public. Children under the age of 18 accounted for nearly half (44%) of the deaths in domestic mass shootings and 10% of the victims in public mass shootings. 8

Although children and teens are usually not targeted in public mass shootings, 8 school shootings in K-12 schools - which include mass shootings - remain one unfortunate exception. These tragedies primarily impact children and teens and are especially concerning given the age of the victims. The definition of a school shooting, like mass shootings, can vary widely, ranging from an accidental discharge of a gun at school, to the injury or death of a student by a firearm, to a school mass shooting. 9 Using the definition of any incident of interpersonal gunfire in a K-12 school, the Washington Post created a dataset that details any school shooting since the Columbine School Shooting, in 1999. 10 Using this data, the number of school shootings per year, with some of the most infamous school shootings labeled, is presented in Figure 1 . Regardless how a school shooting is defined, all of these events can have detrimental effects on a child’s well-being, development, and critical learning outcomes. This is particularly evident if we consider that school shootings impact not just those children who are physically injured and killed, but those who witness the shooting, hear gunshots, know a friend or family member who was killed, among other levels of exposure. 11 Indeed the short- and long-term implications of school shootings on communities across the U.S. can be devastating. 12 , 13

Number of school shootings in the United State since the Columbine School Shooting

K-12 school shootings are of particular interest given the expectation of safety within a school’s walls and the right of every child to learn and thrive in a safe school environment. An apt comparison can be made between school shootings and plane crashes. Deaths due to both are rare, 14 , 15 and planes and classrooms are also presumed to be safe places. However, due to the presumption of safety, if something goes wrong, the event is rightfully seen as not only tragic, but also preventable. As a result, both are more likely to make international news than more frequent tragedies such as car crashes or domestic shootings. 16 , 17 This heightened media response may be one reason why many are terrified of these events; in 2018, Americans rated mass shootings, including school shootings, as the second most important event of the year (with the first being the economy). 18 And the impact of a school shooting may feel particularly devastating, as schools are intended to be safe spaces within which children should be able to thrive and foster their physical, social, and emotional development. The notion that schools could be the site of such violence is counter to our understanding - and expectations of - what schools can and should be. At the same time, an argument can also be made that the fear associated with the anticipation of gun violence in schools is also due to a loss of control by the victims. 19 Just as a passenger on a plane has no way of preventing a mechanical dysfunction or error by the pilot, a parent has little ability to stop a school shooting in the moment. Importantly, however, the two scenarios differ in the way society responds to them. Despite how rare plane crashes prove to be, if one occurs, there is an immediate investigation and steps are made to prevent a future occurrence with significant investments of money and research. The airline industry continues to produce safer airplanes, stricter safety regulations, and a commitment to bringing the number of the accidents to zero. This same mentality should exist with shootings in schools—they are tragedies that should not exist in modern society. Yet, the number of school mass shootings, which had been relatively consistent year-to-year since the 1999 Columbine High School mass shooting, has started to increase in incidence since 2015. 9 In fact, data indicate that more mass school shootings occurred in K-12 schools in 2017 than any other year. 9 Furthermore, the solutions to preventing a school shooting are not as straightforward as preventing a mechanical failure in a machine, as they need to consider the mental and educational well-being of children.

Harm Beyond Injury and Death

Research has confirmed that the implications of youth being exposed to gun violence - particularly a school shooting - can occur, even if no one is killed or injured. 11 For example, a significant body of work has demonstrated that the anticipation of violence more generally can lead to heightened anxiety, fear, and depression across a range of populations. 20 – 22 According to the Washington Post , well over 200 instances of gunfire in K-12 schools have occurred in the U.S. in the twenty years since the Columbine shooting in Colorado, 10 the most publicly notable being mass shooting tragedies at schools like Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. While approximately 150 students and educators have been killed and 300 injured by mass shootings in schools, more than 236,000 students have been exposed to gun violence at their K-12 school since Columbine. 10 The number of students exposed to interpersonal gunfire in their schools per year is presented in Figure 2 . 10 This number, however, is still an underestimate of the total harm created by these events as the reactions and responses to the school mass shootings could also have negative mental health outcomes for children across the United States through anxiety of the anticipation that a shooting might take place at their school in the future.

Number of students exposed to interpersonal gunfire in the United States since the Columbine school shooting.

For example, the hundreds of thousands of students who may have avoided being physically injured by a firearm during these attacks may still experience long term mental health consequences. Any sense of security or safety in their schools—an essential component of learning 23 —can be disrupted with insecurity after these tragedies. A review by Lowe and Galea 24 published in 2017 examined forty-nine articles covering fifteen mass shootings, four of which were in K-12 settings. Among these articles, the most common psychological outcomes that were assessed and found to be elevated among this population were post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression, although evidence of generalized anxiety disorder, acute stress disorder, alcohol related conditions, drug use disorder, panic disorder, adjustment disorder, and anti-social personality disorder were also found to be significant in individuals’ lives who had been affected by a mass shooting. 24 Although psychological conditions were found to be more severe for those who had greater exposure (i.e. witnessing the attack or knowing a victim), those with little direct exposure to the shooting still had at least short-term mental distress of some kind following the incident. 24 And further, although this review included both adults and minors, children and teens who were exposed to these events often experienced higher rates of psychological disorders, including PTSD, in comparison to their adult counterparts. In another study, depending on the way in which they are exposed, approximately 30 to 40% of children who are exposed to a life threatening event develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. 25 In some cases, mental anguish, often fueled by survivor’s guilt and trauma, 26 can result in deaths years after the incident. For example, two Marjory Stoneman Douglas students committed suicide a little over a year after the school mass shooting, and a father of a Sandy Hook Elementary School victim committed suicide in 2019. 27 , 28

Indeed, gun violence in K-12 schools persists, with potentially devastating and traumatic implications for communities around the U.S. In the following sections we present evidence in support of several solutions at multiple levels for this endemic, while also evaluating the lack of evidence that exists for other solutions that are currently in place.

Solutions and Gaps in Evidence

Like all public health crises, the solution to the persistence of gun violence in K-12 schools will require a multifaceted and coordinated effort that draws on a wide range of evidence-informed strategies and involves multiple stakeholders. Importantly, these solutions must also consider the well-being of children in their approach. In this section we identify examples of current approaches to gun violence prevention in schools and speak to their strengths and limitations.

School-Level:

Physical security measures.

The image of a school has changed since the 1999 Columbine shooting in Littleton, CO with the implementation of security measures, such as metal detectors, armed guards, and zero-tolerance policies. 29 In 1999, less than 20% of schools had security cameras; now more than 80% do. 29 These policies also disproportionately affect schools in communities with a lower social-economic status and where the primary population are students of color—regardless of crime rates—and are one facet of the school-to-prison pipeline. 30 , 31 Unfortunately, evidence surrounding these policies is limited, and when available, conflicting. Some researchers have found that more security measures in school, such as metal detectors and armed guards, resulted in students feeling less safe compared to schools without these measures. 32 – 34 Other researchers have reported the opposite: students felt more safe with these policies, 35 or that these security measures have little effect on academic performance. 36 Furthermore, while there is evidence in support of some behavior interventions in preventing school violence, such as counseling, mentoring, and peer mediation, 38 – 40 most studies evaluating physical security policies have been inconclusive. 41 This dilemma proposes a problem: school districts are not only implementing policies that have not been proven to be effective in reducing violence, but also are doing so without knowing the mental health consequences of these measures. The lives significantly influenced by school shootings are vast and uncountable; therefore, research on the best ways to reduce harm related to these tragedies, both mental and physical, is critical.

Lockdowns and Active Shooter Drills

In the weeks before the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, the school had practiced lockdown and safety procedures; in fact, it is thought that the shooter bypassed one of the first grade classrooms because the teacher had forgotten to remove black construction paper from the window of their classroom door. 1 In the years following, lockdown and active shooting drills have increased in American schools: according to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 95% of schools now conduct these drills. 37 These drills are meant to help students and teachers practice quickly locking the door and windows/blinds, finding cover in a classroom, and remaining quiet, and in some instances include multi-optional responses such as teaching students and educators how to create barricades, evacuate the school, and actively resist a shooter. 42 Simulation studies have shown that lockdowns, particularly multi-optional ones, may save lives. 42 But the implementation of these drills is not without controversy, as there is fear that they might by harmful for a child’s emotional and mental wellbeing, 43 can be used to the shooter’s advantage, 44 or may numb students’ reactions to if a real shooting were to occur. 45 Indeed, one survey among students between the ages of 14 and 24 found that while 56% reported that they do help to teach students what to do in case of an attack, 60% of the 815 respondents reported that while the drill made them feel “scared and hopeless.” 46 It is therefore important that these drills are implemented appropriately. For example, if the drills are well planned and the students are warned about the drill before it happens (as opposed to being surprised), some of the harm from these practices could be avoided. 47 Even so, school psychologists should be included in both the planning and aftermath of active shooter drills to prevent trauma from occurring, especially with students of younger ages. 48

Arming our teachers

The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, reignited a national conversation around arming teachers with firearms. Though not a new idea, it brought this concept to the forefront of our national discourse. Unfortunately, and as recent work has illustrated, little is known about the effectiveness of arming teachers in deterring gun violence in schools, 49 including how its implementation would work. For example, many law enforcement officers receive over 800 hours of basic training, which includes 168 hours of training specifically on weapon use, self-defense tactics, and the use of force. 50 However, states that have laws aimed at arming school personnel offer significantly less training - if any - to their school staff. 49 Research also suggests that arming teachers could heighten levels of anxiety and negatively affect a school’s climate, as opposed to serving as an effective deterrence of gun violence. 51 The large majority of teachers and parents are opposed to the idea as well. A recent survey of 500 U.S. teachers found that 73 percent opposed proposals to arm school staff, 52 and a survey of parents of elementary, middle, and high school students, found that 63 percent oppose arming teachers. 53 Arming teachers would also require a contingency plan in place for all possible firearm-related scenarios (whether intentional or accidental), an understanding about the implications of this proposed effort on teacher burden and burnout, a clear sense of how this would resonate or possibly conflict with existing school policies, and an exorbitant cost investment. 49 , 54

Efforts to address early antecedents of violent behavior

The prevention of engagement in violence behavior among children - particular adolescents - has a long and complicated history. As a health crisis, gun violence in schools and its related behavioral antecedents should be addressed, not solely or primarily with punitive measures. In today’s school environment, children are often viewed as either perpetrators to be punished or as victims to be protected without building on their agency. 55 However, investing in evidence-based preventive efforts that are intended to promote critical skill development - and doing so in ways that recognize the resources and agency that children and adolescents bring to the issue - is likely a far more effective way to address both the perceived threat of gun violence and prevent the onset of violent tendencies among youth, while also promoting well-being more broadly. For example, skill-oriented initiatives with a social emotional learning (SEL) focus have been shown to help youth develop healthier coping mechanisms and improve capabilities to address and manage social anxieties, interpersonal conflict with peers and sexual partners, feelings of anger or frustration, challenges with emotion regulation, and engagement in aggressive behaviors. 56 Investing in such efforts early on in one’s developmental trajectory has the potential to be effective, as research demonstrates that experiences with violence beget more violence. 57 In line with work in developmental epidemiology 58 , 59 we anticipate that prevention strategies that reduce the onset of more minor incidents of violence among youth (hypothesized to be “early antecedents” of gun violence), in turn may prevent incidents of gun violence. Other school- and classroom-based initiatives focused on the school climate 60 – 62 and engaging parents in the school community 63 have also been shown to have an impact on reducing aggressive and violent behaviors more broadly. At the same time, work on positive youth development programs have identified short-term impacts on reducing violent outcomes, but the long-term efficacy of such efforts is not clear. 64 Indeed, much of this work has also elucidated that more research is needed to better understand the efficacy of such preventive efforts on reducing gun violence in schools. 63 But these efforts can and should be considered part of a broader menu of strategies that schools pursue as they consider how best to keep their communities safe.

Bullying and warning signs

The majority of K-12 school mass shootings are perpetrated by minors, 9 and in many incidences, research has found that bullying - both being the target or committing the bullying - is a major risk factor for committing school based violence. 65 An evaluation of fifteen mass shootings found that thirteen of the perpetrators had experienced acute or chronic rejection. 66 For example, in the case of the Sandy Hook mass shooting, the gunman had been described as “very withdrawn emotionally” and “quiet and socially awkward.” 67 In response to these commonalities between the perpetrators, Sandy Hook Promise, an organization with a mission to “create a culture engaged in preventing shootings, violence, and other harmful acts in schools,” developed the Start With Hello program and curriculum. 68 The goal of this program is to teach students to be more socially inclusive of one another, with hope that this will reduce bullying and rejection that some students might experience.

In many cases of school violence, there often are also warning signs preceding the event. A study conducted by the Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education reviewed all targeted school violence incidents from 1974 to June 2000 and identified behavioral warning signs in 93% of the cases. 69 In 81% of the incidents, other people, often the shooter’s peers, had some knowledge of the plans. 69 In a follow-up study conducted from 2008 to 2017, researchers found that 100% of the perpetrators showed concerning behaviors, and in 77% of school shooting incidents at least one person knew about the attackers plan. 70 These numbers represent an important place for an intervention, and the Start With Hello campaign could be a first step in getting individuals the support that they need. The age-level appropriate curriculum may be effective in helping students identify possible warning signs of potential future attacks, and encourage students to feel comfortable telling an adult or mentor about these warning signs without fear of retribution for themselves or the person they are concerned for. 68

State and Federal Level:

Red flag and extreme risk protection orders.

In circumstances where the perpetrator is old enough to own a firearm, data on behavioral warning signs also suggest risk-based firearm removal laws could be an effective tool for prevention. Based on the presumption that a person’s risk for violence can fluctuate over time, these laws may prevent a firearm associated tragedy by temporarily removing the firearm from the individual. These laws, often referred to as “red flag laws” or “extreme risk protection orders”, are in effect in 19 states and the District of Columbia as of July 2020. 71 The law is specific to each state, but in most cases, law enforcement or family members may petition a court to temporarily suspend an individual’s right to possess or purchase a firearm. Current research is limited but shows promising evidence of the effectiveness of these state level risk-based firearm removal policies. Two studies evaluated these laws in Connecticut and Indiana. 72 , 73 The results were inconclusive for violence prevention but promising for suicide prevention. However, it is important to recognize that this law would not have prevented the mass shooting at Sandy Hook, and other school shootings like Sandy Hook. Most school shootings are perpetrated by minors who are often already unable to legally possess a firearm. As long as firearms are as widely accessible as they are in the United States, the effectiveness of this strategy against preventing school shootings is still unknown. Further research is needed in order to adequately assess the realities of both implementing these orders and their resulting effectiveness in addressing violence prevention.

Gun-Free Zones

In 1990, one of the most well-known instances of a federal law intended to prevent shootings in schools, the Gun-Free Zones Act of 1990, 74 was passed. The bill outlawed any individual from knowingly possessing a firearm within 1000 feet from school (public or private) grounds, with some exceptions 74 According to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), the penalty for breaking this law is a fine up to $5,000 or imprisonment of up to five years. 75 This policy has become highly politicized in recent years. Just three days after the 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, editorials began to appear online blaming the shooting on the fact Sandy Hook Elementary was a gun-free zone. 76 While proponents of the law believe this helps to keep guns away from schools, opponents of gun-free zones believe that perpetrators may target these areas due to the belief that the victims would not be able to defend themselves as they are unarmed. Despite the controversy, there is currently no peer-reviewed evidence to the effectiveness of gun-free zones. 77

Given that the majority of school shootings are perpetrated by a minor, 9 Child Access Prevention (CAP) Laws could be an effective policy to prevent school shootings. CAP laws require that a firearm is properly stored and locked so that a child would not be able to access it. In most cases, some tragedy with a child must occur for these policies to be invoked.

The RAND Corporation has determined that there is substantial evidence that CAP laws prevent accidental shootings and suicides (the only policy to achieve a “supportive” rating), and there is some evidence that CAP laws also prevent violent crime. 78 In 2020, 29 states and the District of Columbia have implemented some form of CAP law, although the details can vary greatly by jurisdiction. With variation, fourteen states and the District of Columbia only require that the individual was negligent in storing and locking the firearm. 79 However, in the other fourteen states, there is an additional requirement that the individual recklessly endangered their child by not properly locking and storing their firearm in order to be charged. In these states, it must be proven that the individual was aware of the risks but disregarded these dangers in their failure to secure their firearm. 79 The punishments for improper storage (either negligent or reckless) can also vary in these states from a misdemeanor to a felony. 79 Therefore, the effectiveness of these laws depends on the specific state. 80

Conclusions

K-12 school shootings are exceedingly rare events in the United States, but even a single occurrence that places a child and their well-being at-risk is one too many. Schools should be spaces where students are safe, supported, and able to engage, thrive, and learn. When a school shooting occurs, the harm extends far beyond those who have been physically injured or killed and can have significant effects that impact the mental health, learning, and emotional well-being of children within the school community. There are a number of current practices and policy in place with the goal of preventing K-12 school shootings, however, these solutions must account for the well-being and developmental needs of children and ensure they are not harmful in their own ways. For example, research has illustrated that metal detectors in schools have the potential to make students feel less safe, 32 – 34 and arming teachers could increase anxiety of students and teachers alike. 49 At the same time, there are other school safety efforts (for example, behavioral threat assessments, notification technologies, and emergency preparedness drills and programs – among others), which may be effective in deterring school gun violence. Rigorous research, however, is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of these kinds of tactics independently and, perhaps more importantly, in tandem and as part of a school’s larger safety plan.

Additionally, some evidence suggests that investing in the implementation of positive youth development programs, increased access to comprehensive mental health care for children, and/or implementing anti-bullying and inclusion programs ought to be part of a broader and long-term vision for gun violence prevention. Given the critical role schools play in shaping a child’s development, schools have the potential to address early antecedents of violence behavior and investing in this kind of evidence-based programming for students could be an important component without waiting for new laws to be passed. 81 Lastly, and from a policy perspective, the evidence is clear that the passing of specific laws intended to prevent school shootings and other types of gun violence should be a goal—CAP laws, for example, have been shown to be effective at preventing children from accessing firearms. 78 When taken together, this multi-level approach has enormous potential to effectively prevent school shootings and foster the long-term well-being of children.

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School Shootings

International Research, Case Studies, and Concepts for Prevention

• © 2013
• Nils Böckler 0 ,
• Thorsten Seeger 1 ,
• Peter Sitzer 2 ,
• Wilhelm Heitmeyer 3

, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

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Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

University of bielefeld, bielefeld, germany, inst. interdisziplinäre konflikt- und, gewaltforschung, university of bielefeld, bielefeld, germany.

• Presents an interdiscliplinary view of school shootings, highlighting both complementary opinions and controversies
• Examines the response to and influence on school shootings by the media
• Presents new strategies for prevention and intervention.

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Contemporary Society and the Phenomenon of School Rampage Shootings in the United States: A Theoretical Approach to Understanding

• Causes of school shootings
• Empirical studies on school shootings
• Juvenile violence and homicide
• Prevention of school shootings
• Risk assessment methods
• School shootings case studies
• School violence
• Social Disintegration and school violence
• Violence and media

Table of contents (22 chapters)

Front matter, school shootings: conceptual framework and international empirical trends.

• Nils Böckler, Thorsten Seeger, Peter Sitzer, Wilhelm Heitmeyer

Theories, Models and Empirical Findings

Theories, models and empirical findings, social disintegration, loss of control, and school shootings.

• Wilhelm Heitmeyer, Nils Böckler, Thorsten Seeger

Adolescent Culture and the Tragedy of Rampage Shootings

• Katherine S. Newman

School Rampage in International Perspective: The Salience of Cumulative Strain Theory

• Eric Madfis, Jack Levin

On the Relevance of Phantasy for the Genesis of School Shootings

• Frank J. Robertz

Thirty-Five Rampage School Shooters: Trends, Patterns, and Typology

• Peter Langman

Case Studies and Perspectives

Case studies and perspectives, legitimated adolescent violence: lessons from columbine.

• Ralph W. Larkin

Jeffrey Weise and the Shooting at Red Lake Minnesota High School: A Behavioral Perspective

• Mary Ellen O’Toole

Jokela: The Social Roots of a School Shooting Tragedy in Finland

• Atte Oksanen, Johanna Nurmi, Miika Vuori, Pekka Räsänen

A Catastrophic Solution: Psychoanalytic Perspectives on a Samurai School Attack in South Africa

• Duncan Cartwright

Unforgiven and Alone: Brenda Spencer and Secret Shame

• Jonathan Fast

Media Reporting and Media Effects

Media reporting and media effects, school shootings as mediatized violence.

• Glenn W. Muschert

The Role of Media Content in the Genesis of School Shootings: The Contemporary Discussion

Peter Sitzer

Revolution of the Dispossessed: School Shooters and their Devotees on the Web

• Nils Böckler, Thorsten Seeger

Prevention and Intervention Concepts

Prevention and intervention concepts, international perspectives on prevention and intervention in school shootings.

• Rebecca Bondü, Herbert Scheithauer, Vincenz Leuschner, Dewey G. Cornell

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Editors and Affiliations

Nils Böckler

Thorsten Seeger

Wilhelm Heitmeyer

About the editors

Nils Böckler is a member of the graduate college Group-focused Enmity which is founded by the German National Science Foundation and associated with the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence at Bielefeld University. In his PhD-project (science of education) he deals with patterns of online-hate and online-radicalization with a main focus on juveniles.

Thorsten Seeger is a member of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence at Bielefeld University. From a background of educational science his main scholarly interests lie in the fields of traumatic childhood experiences, attachment theory, socialization, and violence research. He deepened his knowledge in psychoanalytic ideas and methods during a study stay at the University of Vienna.

Dr. Peter Sitzer has studied science of education at Bielefeld University. Since 2002 he is member of the Faculty of Educational Science at the Bielefeld University. His main research interests are theories of socialization, youth violence, right-wing extremism, media and violence, and cyber bullying.

Wilhelm Heitmeyer is professor of socialization and director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence at Bielefeld University. His research interests concentrate on violence, social disintegration, right-wing extremism, and ethnic-cultural conflicts. He is editor of the International Handbook of Violence Research (co-edited with John Hagan), and editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Conflict and Violence (with D. Massey et al.).

Bibliographic Information

Book Title : School Shootings

Book Subtitle : International Research, Case Studies, and Concepts for Prevention

Editors : Nils Böckler, Thorsten Seeger, Peter Sitzer, Wilhelm Heitmeyer

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5526-4

Publisher : Springer New York, NY

eBook Packages : Humanities, Social Sciences and Law , Social Sciences (R0)

Copyright Information : Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Hardcover ISBN : 978-1-4614-5525-7 Published: 14 December 2012

Softcover ISBN : 978-1-4899-9506-3 Published: 28 January 2015

eBook ISBN : 978-1-4614-5526-4 Published: 13 December 2012

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XVI, 544

Topics : Criminology and Criminal Justice, general , Child and School Psychology , Medicine/Public Health, general , Community and Environmental Psychology

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Creation of School Shooting Open-Source Database Fuels Understanding

When school shootings occur, they tend to be highly publicized events. Even so, little is known about the overall circumstances that lead to these tragedies because school shootings tend to be studied on an individual basis and in isolation rather than in concert with other shootings that have taken place on school grounds (or in close proximity) that did not result in mass causalities. A collective analysis of these types of events could shed light on larger trends.

To better understand the root causes of these events and identify possible intervention points, NIJ-supported researchers examined two theories of criminology in the context of various types of school shootings, the life-course theory and the situational crime prevention theory. [1] The life-course theory posits that an individual’s bond to society , which evolves over time, is fundamentally related to their tendency toward crime. The situational crime prevention perspective argues that for crime to occur there must first be the opportunity to commit the offense.

These two criminological theories have not been examined extensively in the context of school shootings because of the lack of a large, concentrated dataset focused on these incidents. Therefore, the researchers built The American School Shooting Study (TASSS) to fill the gap – a groundbreaking, national open-source database of all known shootings that resulted in at least one injury on K-12 school grounds between 1990 and 2016, including shootings that took place on school grounds or in close proximity and those known as mass school shootings. Researchers endeavored to provide an evidence-based understanding of the key causes of school shootings by analyzing data on where and when the incidents occur and highlighting key incident and individual-level characteristics.

To benefit law enforcement, school officials, and policy makers, the research team:

• Built TASSS using open-source data to document the nature of the problem.
• Analyzed TASSS to provide a comprehensive understanding of the individuals who perpetrated school shootings.
• Compared fatal and non-fatal attacks to identify possible intervention points.

Researchers also provided carefully curated case studies to capture the life course of those who offend with guns and to gain insight into situational crime prevention related to schools. The ultimate goal was to help law enforcement and school administrators differentiate between the kinds of school shootings that exist to improve policy and response.

Building a Robust TASSS Database from the Ground Up

Building on their past experience creating terrorism and extremist crime open-source databases, the researchers set out to build the TASSS catalog. They collected all publicly available information on each case using strict inclusion criteria. For inclusion in the database, a shooting had to:

• Have taken place between 1990 and 2016
• Occur within the continental U.S.
• Result in a criminal justice response
• Include a firearm that discharged explosives to propel a projectile.
• Occur at a K-12 school.
• Injure or kill at least one person with a bullet wound.

The researchers reviewed over 35 sources and identified almost 1,400 potential shootings.

Of those, 652 shootings fit their criteria. By way of description, they documented that:

• There were 18 intentional school shootings per year, on average.
• Mass school shootings are actually rare events compared to all school shootings, with 11 occurring over the 27-year study period.
• Adult shooters commit more fatal shootings than adolescents.
• Most of the fatal shootings took place in the 1990s, compared to the 2000s.
• The South had over three times as many school shootings as the Northeast.
• A large number of “school shootings” are committed on school grounds, outside the school building by non-students during non-school hours (in other words, are non-school related).
• Of all the school shootings, fatal shootings are not at an all-time high and do not appear to be steadily increasing.

Looking at life-course theory , the research team identified 252 adolescent school shooters and 102 adult school shooters (including mass school shooters). Upon review of the data, some patterns emerged:

• Adolescent school shooters were mostly male, with an average age of 16.
• Most shooters were not employed, and only one quarter of the adult shooters were employed at the time of the attack (which is lower than the general male population).
• One quarter had psychological issues.
• One third had criminal records.
• One third were gang members.
• One third of adolescents who committed offenses suffered from aggression from their peers, and this was more common with those who committed fatal offenses.
• Over twice as many fatal shooters than non-fatal shooters had additional family issues.
• One quarter of school shootings are not intentional shootings against others, but are suicides and accidents.

The case studies reinforce the theory that shootings often result when there is opportunity (i.e., situational crime prevention theory), as identified as easy access to school, gun, or both. The researchers demonstrated that:

• Consistent with situational crime prevention theory, shootings in multi-story schools with a police officer present were more likely to be non-fatal.
• Many of those who perpetrated violence were able to enter school with a gun without being accosted, and many were able to access firearms while underage .
• Many of those who perpetrated violence leaked their intentions – approximately half gave a warning or made threats. Over three quarters of the warnings were not acted on.
• Contrary to expectations, metal detectors increased the odds of a fatal attack when an adult shooter was involved.

Project Limitations and Future Directions

Importantly, the authors noted that all of the incidents recorded in the TASSS were there because they actually resulted in a school shooting, and not in an attempted shooting. They posited that a useful line of investigation could be to look at “attacked” versus “non-attacked” schools to examine the differential success and use of situational crime prevention interventions like cameras, metal detectors, guards, and officers. It might also be informative to examine foiled plots to see if situational interventions identified the weapon or the shooter prior to the completion of the offense.  

The authors suggested that a one-size-fits-all approach may not work to prevent school shootings. Not all shooters are students, not all victims are students, not all shootings actually take place on school grounds. So how do we prevent intentional shootings? Many that happen to occur on school grounds are simply a manifestation of larger problems on the community level, researchers suggest. These might be best addressed by community partnerships to address larger issues such as gang involvement, drugs, or domestic violence.

The researchers hope to define a more refined typology of those who commit shooting offenses in the future so that they can fashion more targeted interventions. For example, many of those who perpetrated violence leaked their intentions, and over three quarters of the warnings were not acted upon by school officials. Schools can focus the appropriate amount of attention on educating students and staff on the importance of sharing that type of information, no matter how difficult it might prove. Once a refined typology is established, the hope is that possible intervention points will more clearly emerge so that schools can boost their success in preventing future possible school shootings.

About This Article

The work described in this article was supported by NIJ award number 2016-CK-BX-0013 , awarded to the Research Foundation of CUNY o/b/o John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY.

This article is based on the grantee report “Understanding the Causes of School Violence Using Open Source Data” (pdf, 84 pages) , by J.D. Freilich, S.M. Chermak, N.M. Connell, B. Klein, and E. Greene-Colozzi.

[note 1] Robert J. Sampson and John H. Laub. Crime in the Making: Pathways and Turning Points Through Life. (Boston: Harvard University Press, 1993); and Richard Wortley, Alfred Blumstein, and David P Farrington. Situational Prison Control: Crime Prevention in Correctional Institutions. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002).

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