presentation about school shootings

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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What research says about preventing school shootings

Cory Turner

Jeffrey Pierre

Students and residents mourn those who lost their lives near the scene of the mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga. Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images hide caption

Wednesday's violence at a Georgia high school and the arrest of a 14-year-old suspect follow a familiar pattern of previous school shootings. After every one, there's been a tendency to ask, "How do we prevent the next one?"

For years, school safety experts, and even the U.S. Secret Service, have rallied around some very clear answers. Here's what they say.

It's not a good idea to arm teachers

There's broad consensus that arming teachers is not  a good policy. That's according to Matthew Mayer, a professor at Rutgers Graduate School of Education. He's been studying school violence since before Columbine, and he's part of a group of researchers who have published several position papers about why school shootings happen.

Law enforcement had prior warning about suspect in fatal Georgia high school shooting

Mayer says arming teachers is a bad idea "because it invites numerous disasters and problems, and the chances of it actually helping are so minuscule."

In 2018, a Gallup poll  also found that most teachers do not want to carry guns in school, and overwhelmingly favor gun control measures over security steps meant to "harden" schools. When asked which specific measures would be "most effective" at preventing school shootings, 57% of teachers favored universal background checks, and the same number, 57%, also favored banning the sale of semiautomatic weapons such as the one used in the Parkland attack.

Raise age limits for gun ownership

School safety researchers support tightening age limits for gun ownership, from 18 to 21. They say 18 years old is too young to be able to buy a gun; the teenage brain is just too impulsive. And they point out that the school shooters in Parkland, Santa Fe, Newtown, Columbine and Uvalde were all under 21.

School safety researchers also support universal background checks and banning assault-style weapons . But it's not just about how shooters legally acquire firearms. A 2019 report  from the Secret Service found that in half the school shootings they studied, the gun used was either readily accessible at home or not meaningfully secured.

Of course, schools don't have control over age limits and gun storage. But there's a lot they can still do.

Schools can support the social and emotional needs of students

A lot of the conversation around making schools safer has centered on hardening schools by adding police officers and metal detectors. But experts say schools should actually focus on softening  to support the social and emotional needs of students .

"Our first preventative strategy should be to make sure kids are respected, that they feel connected and belong in schools," says Odis Johnson Jr., of Johns Hopkins University's Center for Safe and Healthy Schools.

That means building kids' skills around conflict resolution, stress management and empathy for their fellow classmates — skills that can help reduce all sorts of unwanted behaviors, including fighting and bullying.

In its report, the Secret Service found most of the school attackers they studied had been bullied.

The School Shootings That Weren't

Jackie Nowicki has led multiple school safety investigations at the U.S. Government Accountability Office. She and her team have identified some of things schools can do to make their classrooms and hallways feel safer, including "anti-bullying training for staff and teachers, adult supervision, things like hall monitors, and mechanisms to anonymously report hostile behaviors."

The Secret Service recommends schools implement what they call a threat assessment model, where trained staff — including an administrator, a school counselor or psychologist, as well as a law enforcement representative — work together to identify and support students in crisis before they hurt others.

Earlier this year, the National Association of Secondary School Principals released new guidance for preventing school violence.

It noted that ensuring that educators, parents and students have access to mental health services is a "critical component" in preventing violence and increasing school safety. And the organization called for congressional action to provide support for those services.

This story has been updated from an earlier version published on May 26, 2022.

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An Examination of US School Mass Shootings, 2017–2022: Findings and Implications

Antonis katsiyannis.

1 Department of Education and Human Development, College of Education, Clemson University, 101 Gantt Circle, Room 407 C, Clemson, SC 29634 USA

Luke J. Rapa

2 Department of Education and Human Development, College of Education, Clemson University, 101 Gantt Circle, Room 409 F, Clemson, SC 29634 USA

Denise K. Whitford

3 Steven C. Beering Hall of Liberal Arts and Education, Purdue University, 100 N. University Street, BRNG 5154, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2098 USA

Samantha N. Scott

4 Department of Education and Human Development, College of Education, Clemson University, 101 Gantt Circle, Room G01A, Clemson, SC 29634 USA

Gun violence in the USA is a pressing social and public health issue. As rates of gun violence continue to rise, deaths resulting from such violence rise as well. School shootings, in particular, are at their highest recorded levels. In this study, we examined rates of intentional firearm deaths, mass shootings, and school mass shootings in the USA using data from the past 5 years, 2017–2022, to assess trends and reappraise prior examination of this issue.

Extant data regarding shooting deaths from 2017 through 2020 were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the web-based injury statistics query and reporting system (WISQARS), and, for school shootings in particular (2017–2022), from Everytown Research & Policy.

The number of intentional firearm deaths and the crude death rates increased from 2017 to 2020 in all age categories; crude death rates rose from 4.47 in 2017 to 5.88 in 2020. School shootings made a sharp decline in 2020—understandably so, given the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent government or locally mandated school shutdowns—but rose again sharply in 2021.

Conclusions

Recent data suggest continued upward trends in school shootings, school mass shootings, and related deaths over the past 5 years. Notably, gun violence disproportionately affects boys, especially Black boys, with much higher gun deaths per capita for this group than for any other group of youth. Implications for policy and practice are provided.

On May 24, 2022, an 18-year-old man killed 19 students and two teachers and wounded 17 individuals at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, using an AR-15-style rifle. Outside the school, he fired shots for about 5 min before entering the school through an unlocked side door and locked himself inside two adjoining classrooms killing 19 students and two teachers. He was in the school for over an hour (78 min) before being shot dead by the US Border Patrol Tactical Unit, though police officers were on the school premises (Sandoval, 2022 ).

The Robb Elementary School mass shooting, the second deadliest school mass shooting in American history, is the latest calamity in a long list of tragedies occurring on public school campuses in the USA. Regrettably, these tragedies are both a reflection and an outgrowth of the broader reality of gun violence in this country. In 2021, gun violence claimed 45,027 lives (including 20,937 suicides), with 313 children aged 0–11 killed and 750 injured, along with 1247 youth aged 12–17 killed and 3385 injured (Gun Violence Archive, 2022a ). Mass shootings in the USA have steadily increased in recent years, rising from 269 in 2013 to 611 in 2020. Mass shootings are typically defined as incidents in which four or more people are killed (Katsiyannis et al., 2018a ). However, the Gun Violence Archive considers mass shootings to be incidents in which four or more people are injured (Gun Violence Archive, 2022b ). Regardless of these distinctions in definition, in 2020, there were 19,384 gun murders, representing a 34% increase from the year before, a 49% increase over a 5-year period, and a 75% increase over a 10-year period (Pew Research Center, 2022 ). Regarding school-based shootings, to date in 2022, there have been at least 95 incidents of gunfire on school premises, resulting in 40 deaths and 76 injuries (Everytown Research & Policy, 2022b ). Over the past few decades, school shootings in the USA have become relatively commonplace: there were more in 2021 than in any year since 1999, with the median age of perpetrators being 16 (Washington Post, 2022 ; see also, Katsiyannis et al., 2018a ). Additionally, analysis of Everytown’s Gunfire on School Grounds dataset and related studies point to several key observations to be considered in addressing this challenge. For example, 58% of perpetrators had a connection to the school, 70% were White males, 73 to 80% obtained guns from home or relatives or friends, and 100% exhibited warning signs or showed behavior that was of cause for concern; also, in 77% of school shootings, at least one person knew about the shooter’s plan before the shooting events occurred (Everytown Research & Policy, 2021a ).

The USA has had 57 times as many school shootings as all other major industrialized nations combined (Rowhani-Rahbar & Moe, 2019 ). Guns are the leading cause of death for children and teens in the USA, with children ages 5–14 being 21 times and adolescents and young adults ages 15–24 being 23 times more likely to be killed with guns compared to other high-income countries. Furthermore, Black children and teens are 14 times and Latinx children and teens are three times more likely than White children to die by guns (Everytown Research & Policy, 2021b ). Children exposed to violence, crime, and abuse face a host of adverse challenges, including abuse of drugs and alcohol, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, school failure, and involvement in criminal activity (Cabral et al., 2021 ; Everytown Research and Policy, 2022b ; Finkelhor et al., 2013 ).

Yet, despite gun violence being considered a pressing social and public health issue, federal legislation passed in 1996 has resulted in restricting funding for the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The law stated that no funding earmarked for injury prevention and control may be used to advocate or promote firearm control (Kellermann & Rivara, 2013 ). More recently, in June 2022, the US Supreme Court struck down legislation restricting gun possession and open carry rights (New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen, 2021 ), broadening gun rights and increasing the risk of gun violence in public spaces. Nonetheless, according to Everytown Research & Policy ( 2022a ), states with strong gun laws experience fewer deaths per capita. In the aggregate, states with weaker gun laws (i.e., laws that are more permissive) experience 20.0 gun deaths per 100,000 residents versus 7.4 per 100,000 in states with stronger laws. The association between gun law strength and per capita death is stark (see Table ​ Table1 1 ).

Gun law strength and gun law deaths per 100,000 residents

Accounting for the top eight and the bottom eight states in gun law strength, gun law strength and gun deaths per 100,000 are correlated at r  =  − 0.85. Stronger gun laws are thus meaningfully linked with fewer deaths per capita. Data obtained from Everytown Research & Policy ( 2022a )

Notwithstanding the publicity involving gun shootings in schools, particularly mass shootings, violence in schools has been steadily declining. For example, in 2020, students aged 12–18 experienced 285,400 victimizations at school and 380,900 victimizations away from school; an annual decrease of 60% for school victimizations (from 2019 to 2020) (Irwin et al., 2022 ). Similarly, youth arrests in general in 2019 were at their lowest level since at least 1980; between 2010 and 2019, the number of juvenile arrests fell by 58%. Yet, arrests for murder increased by 10% (Puzzanchera, 2021 ).

In response to school violence in general, and school shootings in particular, schools have increasingly relied on increased security measures, school resource officers (SROs), and zero tolerance policies (including exclusionary and aversive measures) in their attempts to curb violence and enhance school safety. In 2019–2020, public schools reported controlled access (97%), the use of security cameras (91%), and badges or picture IDs (77%) to promote safety. In addition, high schools (84%), middle schools (81%), and elementary schools (55%) reported the presence of SROs (Irwin et al., 2022 ). Research, however, has indicated that the presence of SROs has not resulted in a reduction of school shooting severity, despite their increased prevalence. Rather, the type of firearm utilized in school shootings has been closely associated with the number of deaths and injuries (Lemieux, 2014 ; Livingston et al., 2019 ), suggesting implications for reconsideration of the kinds of firearms to which individuals have access.

Zero tolerance policies, though originally intended to curtail gun violence in schools, have expanded to cover a host of incidents (e.g., threats, bullying). Notwithstanding these intentions, these policies are generally ineffective in preventing school violence, including school shootings (American Psychological Association Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2008 ; Losinski et al., 2014 ), and have exacerbated the prevalence of youths’ interactions with law enforcement in schools. From the 2015–2016 to the 2017–2018 school years, there was a 5% increase in school-related arrests and a 12% increase in referrals to law enforcement (U.S. Department of Education, 2021 ); in 2017–18, about 230,000 students were referred to law enforcement and over 50,000 were arrested (The Center for Public Integrity, 2021 ). Law enforcement referrals have been a persistent concern aiding the school-to-prison pipeline, often involving non-criminal offenses and disproportionally affecting students from non-White backgrounds as well as students with disabilities (Chan et al., 2021 ; The Center for Public Integrity, 2021 ).

The consequences of these policies are thus far-reaching, with not only legal ramifications, but social-emotional and academic ones as well. For example, in 2017–2018, students missed 11,205,797 school days due to out-of-school suspensions during that school year (U.S. Department of Education, 2021 ), there were 96,492 corporal punishment incidents, and 101,990 students were physically restrained, mechanically restrained, or secluded (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, 2020 ). Such exclusionary and punitive measures have long-lasting consequences for the involved students, including academic underachievement, dropout, delinquency, and post-traumatic stress (e.g., Cholewa et al., 2018 ). Moreover, these consequences disproportionally affect culturally and linguistically diverse students and students with disabilities (Skiba et al., 2014 ; U.S. General Accountability Office, 2018 ), often resulting in great societal costs (Rumberger & Losen, 2017 ).

In the USA, mass killings involving guns occur approximately every 2 weeks, while school shootings occur every 4 weeks (Towers et al., 2015 ). Given the apparent and continued rise in gun violence, mass shootings, and school mass shootings, we aimed in this paper to reexamine rates of intentional firearm deaths, mass shootings, and school mass shootings in the USA using data from the past 5 years, 2017–2022, reappraising our analyses given the time that had passed since our earlier examination of the issue (Katsiyannis et al., 2018a , b ).

As noted in Katsiyannis et al., ( 2018a , b ), gun violence, mass shootings, and school shootings have been a part of the American way of life for generations. Such shootings have grown exponentially in both frequency and mortality rate since the 1980s. Using the same criteria applied in our previous work (Katsiyannis et al., 2018a , b ), we evaluated the frequency of shootings, mass shootings, and school mass school shootings from January 2017 through mid-July 2022. Extant data regarding shooting deaths from 2017 through 2020 were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, utilizing the web-based injury statistics query and reporting system (WISQARS), and for school shootings from 2017 to 2022 from Everytown Research & Policy ( https://everytownresearch.org ), an independent non-profit organization that researches and communicates with policymakers and the public about gun violence in the USA. Intentional firearm death data were classified by age, as outlined in Katsiyannis et al., ( 2018a , b ), and the crude rate was calculated by dividing the number of deaths times 100,000, by the total population for each individual category.

The number of intentional firearm deaths and the crude death rates increased from 2017 to 2020 in all age categories. In absolute terms, the number of deaths rose from 14,496 in 2017 to 19,308 in 2020. In accord with this rise in the absolute number of deaths, crude death rates rose from 4.47 in 2017 to 5.88 in 2020. Table ​ Table2 2 provides the crude death rate in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020, the most current years with data available. Figure  1 provides the raw number of deaths across the same time period.

Intentional firearm deaths across the USA (2017–2020)

Data obtained from WISQARS (2022)

Intentional firearm deaths across the USA (2017–2020). Note. Data obtained from WISQARS (2022)

As expected, in 2020, the number of fatal firearm injuries increased sharply from age 0–11 years, roughly elementary school age, to age 12–18 years, roughly middle school and high school age. Table ​ Table3 3 provides the crude death rates of children in 2020 who die from firearms. Males outnumbered females in every category of firearm deaths, including homicide, police violence, suicide, and accidental shootings, as well as for undetermined reasons for firearm discharge. Black males drastically surpassed all other children in the number of firearm deaths (2.91 per 100,000 0–11-year-olds; 57.10 per 100,000 12–18-year-olds). Also, notable is the high number of Black children 12–18 years killed by guns (32.37 per 100,000), followed by American Indian and Alaska Native children (18.87 per 100,000), in comparison to White children (12.40 per 100,000 children), Hispanic/Latinx children (8.16 per 100,000), and Asian and Pacific Islander children (2.95 per 100,000). A disproportionate number of gun deaths were also seen for Black girls relative to other girls (1.52 per 100,000 0–11-year-olds; 7.01 per 100,000 12–18-year-olds).

Fatal firearm injuries for children age 0–18 across the USA in 2020

  AN Alaska Native; – indicates 20 or fewer cases

Mass shootings and mass shooting deaths increased from 2017 to 2019, decreased in 2020, and then increased again in 2021. School shootings made a sharp decline in 2020—understandably so, given the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent government or locally mandated school shutdowns—but rose again sharply in 2021. Current rates reveal a continued increase, with numbers at the beginning of 2022 already exceeding those of 2017. School mass shooting counts were relatively low between 2017 through 2022, with four total during that time frame. Figure  2 provides raw numbers for mass shootings, school shootings, and school mass shootings from 2017 through 2022. Importantly, figures from the recent Uvalde, TX, school mass shooting at Robb Elementary School had not yet been recorded in the relevant databases at the time of this writing. With those deaths accounted for, 2022 is already the deadliest year for school mass shootings in the past 5 years.

Mass shootings, school shootings, and mass school shootings across the USA (2017–2022). Note. Data obtained from Everytown Research and Policy. Overlap present between all three categories

Gun violence in the USA, particularly mass shootings on the grounds of public schools, continues to be a pressing social and public health issue. Recent data suggest continued upward trends in school shootings, school mass shootings, and related deaths over the past 5 years—patterns that disturbingly mirror general gun violence and intentional shooting deaths in the USA across the same time period. The impacts on our nation’s youth are profound. Notably, gun violence disproportionately affects boys, especially Black boys, with much higher gun deaths per capita for this group than for any other group of youth. Likewise, Black girls are disproportionately affected compared to girls from other ethnic/racial groups. Moreover, while the COVID-19 pandemic and school shutdowns tempered gun violence in schools at least somewhat during the 2020 school year—including school shootings and school mass shootings—trend data show that gun violence rates are still continuing to rise. Indeed, gun violence deaths resulting from school shootings are at their highest recorded levels ever (Irwin et al., 2022 ).

Implications for Schools: Curbing School Violence

In recent years, the implementation of Multi-Tier Systems and Supports (MTSS), including Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Response to Intervention (RTI), has resulted in improved school climate and student engagement as well as improved academic and behavioral outcomes (Elrod et al., 2022 ; Santiago-Rosario et al., 2022 ; National Center for Learning Disabilities, n.d.). Such approaches have implications for reducing school violence as well. PBIS uses a tiered framework intended to improve student behavioral and academic outcomes; it creates positive learning environments through the implementation of evidence-based instructional and behavioral interventions, guided by data-based decision-making and allocation of students across three tiers. In Tier 1, schools provide universal supports to all students in a proactive manner; in Tier 2, supports are aimed to students who need additional academic, behavioral, or social-emotional intervention; and in Tier 3, supports are provided in an intensive and individualized manner (Lewis et al., 2010 ). The implementation of PBIS has resulted in an improved school climate, fewer office referrals, and reductions in out-of-school suspensions (Bradshaw et al., 2010 ; Elrod et al.,  2010 , 2022 ; Gage et al., 2018a , 2018b ; Horner et al., 2010 ; Noltemeyer et al., 2019 ). Likewise, RTI aims to improve instructional outcomes through high-quality instruction and universal screening for students to identify learning challenges and similarly allocates students across three tiers. In Tier 1, schools implement high-quality classroom instruction, screening, and group interventions; in Tier 2, schools implement targeted interventions; and in Tier 3, schools implement intensive interventions and comprehensive evaluation (National Center for Learning Disabilities, n.d ). RTI implementation has resulted in improved academic outcomes (e.g., reading, writing) (Arrimada et al., 2022 ; Balu et al., 2015 ; Siegel, 2020 ) and enhanced school climate and student behavior.

In order to support students’ well-being, enhance school climate, and support reductions in behavioral issues and school violence, schools should consider the implementation of MTSS, reducing reliance on exclusionary and aversive measures such as zero tolerance policies, seclusion and restraints, corporal punishment, or school-based law enforcement referrals and arrests (see Gage et al., in press ). Such approaches and policies are less effective than the use of MTSS, exacerbate inequities and enhance disproportionality (particularly for youth of color and students with disabilities), and have not been shown to reduce violence in schools.

Implications for Students: Ensuring Physical Safety and Supporting Mental Health

Students should not have to attend school and fear becoming victims of violence in general, no less gun violence in particular. Schools must ensure the physical safety of their students. Yet, as the substantial number of school shootings continues to rise in the USA, so too does concern about the adverse impacts of violence and gun violence on students’ mental health and well-being. Students are frequently exposed to unavoidable and frightening images and stories of school violence (Child Development Institute, n.d. ) and are subject to active shooter drills that may not actually be effective and, in some cases, may actually induce trauma (Jetelina, 2022 ; National Association of School Psychologists & National Association of School Resources Officers, 2021 ; Wang et al., 2020 ). In turn, students struggle to process and understand why these events happen and, more importantly, how they can be prevented (National Association of School Psychologists, 2015 ). School personnel should be prepared to support the mental health needs of students, both in light of the prevalence of school gun violence and in the aftermath of school mass shootings.

Research provides evidence that traumatic events, such as school mass shootings, can and do have mental health consequences for victims and members of affected communities, leading to an increase in post-traumatic stress syndrome, depression, and other psychological systems (Lowe & Galea, 2017 ). At the same time, high media attention to such events indirectly exposes and heightens feelings of fear, anxiety, and vulnerability in students—even if they did not attend the school where the shooting occurred (Schonfeld & Demaria, 2020 ). Students of all ages may experience adjustment difficulties and engage in avoidance behaviors (Schonfeld & Demaria, 2020 ). As a result, school personnel may underestimate a student’s distress after a shooting and overestimate their resilience. In addition, an adult’s difficulty adjusting in the wake of trauma may also threaten a student’s sense of well-being because they may believe their teachers cannot provide them with the protection they need to remain safe in school (Schonfeld & Demaria, 2020 ).

These traumatic events have resounding consequences for youth development and well-being. However, schools continue to struggle to meet the demands of student mental health needs as they lack adequate funding for resources, student support services, and staff to provide the level of support needed for many students (Katsiyannis et al., 2018a ). Despite these limiting factors, children and youth continue to look to adults for information and guidance on how to react to adverse events. An effective response can significantly decrease the likelihood of further trauma; therefore, all school personnel must be prepared to talk with students about their fears, to help them feel safe and establish a sense of normalcy and security in the wake of tragedy (National Association of School Psychologists, 2016 ). Research suggests a number of strategies can be utilized by educators, school leaders, counselors, and other mental health professionals to support the students and staff they serve.

Recommendations for Educators

The National Association of School Psychologists ( 2016 ) recommends the following practices for educators to follow in response to school mass shootings. Although a complex topic to address, the issue needs to be acknowledged. In particular, educators should designate time to talk with their students about the event, and should reassure students that they are safe while validating their fears, feelings, and concerns. Recognizing and stressing to students that all feelings are okay when a tragedy occurs is essential. It is important to note that some students do not wish to express their emotions verbally. Other developmentally appropriate outlets, such as drawing, writing, reading books, and imaginative play, can be utilized. Educators should also provide developmentally appropriate explanations of the issue and events throughout their conversations. At the elementary level, students need brief, simple answers that are balanced with reassurances that schools are safe and that adults are there to protect them. In the secondary grades, students may be more vocal in asking questions about whether they are truly safe and what protocols are in place to protect them at school. To address these questions, educators can provide information related to the efforts of school and community leaders to ensure school safety. Educators should also review safety procedures and help students to identify at least one adult in the building to whom they can go if they feel threatened or at risk. Limiting exposure to media and social media is also important, as developmentally inappropriate information can cause anxiety or confusion. Educators should also maintain a normal routine by keeping a regular school schedule.

Recommendations for School Leaders

Superintendents, principals, and other school administrative personnel are looked upon to provide leadership and comfort to staff, students, and parents during a tragedy. Reassurance can be provided by reiterating safety measures and student supports that are in place in their district and school (The National Association of School Psychologists, 2015 ). The NASP recommends the following practices for school leaders regarding addressing student mental health needs directly. First, school leaders should be a visible, welcoming presence by greeting students and visiting classrooms. School leaders should also communicate with the school community, including parents and students, about their efforts to maintain safe and caring schools through clear behavioral expectations, positive behavior interventions and supports, and crisis planning preparedness. This can include the development of press releases for broad dissemination within the school community. School leaders should also provide crisis training and professional development for staff, based upon assessments of needs and targeted toward identified knowledge or skill gaps. They should also ensure the implementation of violence prevention programs and curricula in school and review school safety policies and procedures to ensure that all safety issues are adequately covered in current school crisis plans and emergency response procedures.

Recommendations for Counselors and Mental Health Professionals

School counselors offer critical assistance to their buildings’ populations as they experience crises or respond to emergencies (American School Counselor Association, 2019 ; Brown, 2020 ). Two models that stand out in the literature utilized by counselors in the wake of violent events are the Preparation, Action, Recovery (PAR) model and the Prevent and prepare; Reaffirm; Evaluate; provide interventions and Respond (PREPaRE) model. PREPaRE is the only comprehensive, nationally available training curriculum created by educators for educators (The National Association of School Psychologists, n.d. ). Although beneficial, neither the PAR nor PREPaRE model directly addresses school counselors’ responses to school shootings when their school is directly affected (Brown, 2020 ). This led to the development of the School Counselor’s Response to School Shootings-Framework of Recommendations (SCRSS-FR) model, which includes six stages, each of which has corresponding components for school counselors who have lived through a school mass shooting. Each of these models provides the necessary training to school-employed mental health professionals on how to best fill the roles and responsibilities generated by their membership on school crisis response teams (The National Association of School Psychologists, n.d. ).

Other Implications: Federal and State Policy

Recent events at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, prompted the US Congress to pass landmark legislation intended to curb gun violence, enhancing background checks for prospective gun buyers who are under 21 years of age as well as allowing examination of juvenile records beginning at age 16, including health records related to prospective gun buyers’ mental health. Additionally, this legislation provides funding that will allow states to implement “red flag laws” and other intervention programs while also strengthening laws related to the purchase and trafficking of guns (Cochrane, 2022 ). Yet, additional legislation reducing or eliminating access to assault rifles and other guns with large capacity magazines, weapons that might easily be deemed “weapons of mass destruction,” is still needed (Interdisciplinary Group on Preventing School & Community Violence, 2022 ; see also Flannery et al., 2021 ). In 2019, the US Congress started to appropriate research funding to support research on gun violence, with $25 million in equal shares provided on an annual basis from both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health (Roubein, 2022 ; Wan, 2019 ). Additional research is, of course, still needed.

Despite legislative progress, and while advancements in gun legislation are meaningful and have the potential to aid in the reduction of gun violence in the USA, school shootings and school mass shootings are something schools and students will contend with in the months and years ahead. This reality has serious implications for schools and for students, points that need serious consideration. Therefore, it is imperative that gun violence is framed as a pressing national public health issue deserving attention, with drastic steps needed to curb access to assault rifles and guns with high-capacity magazines, based on extensive and targeted research. As noted, Congress, after many years of inaction, has started to appropriate funds to address this issue. However, the level of funding is still minimal in light of the pressing challenge that gun violence presents. Furthermore, the messaging of conservative media, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and republican legislators framing access to all and any weapons—including assault rifles—as a constitutional right under the second amendment bears scrutiny. Indeed, the second amendment denotes that “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Security of the nation is arguably the intent of the amendment, an intent that is clearly violated as evidenced in the ever-increasing death toll associated with gun violence in the USA.

Whereas federal legislation would be preferable, the possibility of banning assault weapons is remote (in light of recent Congressional action). Similarly, state action has been severely curtailed in light of the US Supreme Court’s decision regarding New York state law. However, data on gun fatalities and injuries, the correspondence of gun violence to laws regulating access across the world and states, and failed security measures such as armed guards posted in schools (e.g., Robb Elementary School) must be consistently emphasized. Additionally, the widespread sense of immunity for gun manufacturers should be tested in the same manner that tobacco manufacturers and opioid pharmaceuticals have been. The success against such tobacco and opioid manufacturers, once unthinkable, is a powerful precedent to consider for how the threat of gun violence against public health might be addressed.

Author Contribution

AK conceived of and designed the study and led the writing of the manuscript. LJR collaborated on the study design, contributed to the writing of the study, and contributed to the editing of the final manuscript. DKW analyzed the data and wrote up the results. SNS contributed to the writing of the study.

Declarations

The authors declare no competing interests.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Five Facts About Mass Shootings in K-12 Schools

Preventing mass shootings in the United States, particularly those occurring in school settings, is an important priority for families, government leaders and officials, public safety agencies, mental health professionals, educators, and local communities. What does the evidence say about how to detect, prevent, and respond to these tragic events? Here’s what we’ve learned through NIJ-sponsored research: [1]

1. Most people who commit a mass shooting are in crisis leading up to it and are likely to leak their plans to others, presenting opportunities for intervention.

Before their acts of violence, most individuals who carry out a K-12 mass shooting show outward signs of crisis. Through social media and other means, they often publicly broadcast a high degree of personal instability and an inability to cope in their current mental state. Almost all are actively suicidal.

Case studies show that most of these individuals engage in warning behaviors, usually leaking their plans directly to peers or through social media. [2] Yet most leaks of K-12 mass shooting plans are not reported to authorities before the shooting.

Research shows that leaking mass shooting plans is associated with a cry for help. [3] Analyses of case reports from successfully averted K-12 mass shootings point to crisis intervention as a promising strategy for K-12 mass shooting prevention. [4] Programs and strategies found to prevent school shootings and school violence generally could hold promise for preventing school mass shootings as well.

2. Everyone can help prevent school mass shootings.

Most individuals who carry out a K-12 mass shooting are insiders, with some connection to the school they target. Often, they are current or former students.

Research suggests that communities can help prevent school mass shootings by working together to address student crises and trauma, recognizing and reporting threats of violence, and following up consistently.

Two-thirds of foiled plots in all mass shootings (including school mass shootings) are detected through public reporting. Having a mechanism in place to collect information on threats of possible school violence and thwarted attempts is a good first step.

The School Safety Tip Line Toolkit is one resource to consider for developing and implementing a school tip line. [5] The Mass Attacks Defense Toolkit details evidence-based suggestions for recognizing warning signs and creating collaborative systems to follow up consistently in each case. [6] The Averted School Violence Database enables schools to share details about averted school violence incidents and lessons learned that can prevent future acts of violence. [7]

3. Threat assessment is a promising prevention strategy to assess and respond to mass shooting threats, as well as other threats of violence by students.

For schools that adopt threat assessment protocols, school communities are educated to assess threats of violence reported to them. [8] Threat assessment teams, including school officials, mental health personnel, and law enforcement, respond to each threat as warranted by the circumstances. An appropriate response might include referral of a student to mental health professionals, involvement of law enforcement, or both.

Emphasizing the mental health needs of students who pose threats can encourage their student peers to report on those threats without fear of being stigmatized as a “snitch.” In an evaluation study, educating students on this distinction increased their willingness to report threats. [9]

Many educational and public safety experts agree that threat assessment can be a valuable tool. But an ongoing challenge for schools is to implement threat assessment in a manner that minimizes unintended negative consequences. [10]

4. Individuals who commit a school shooting are most likely to obtain a weapon by theft from a family member, indicating a need for more secure firearm storage practices.

In an open-source database study, 80% of individuals who carried out a K-12 mass shooting stole the firearm used in the shooting from a family member. [11] In contrast, those who committed mass shootings outside of schools often purchased guns lawfully (77%).

K-12 mass shootings were more likely to involve the use of a semi-automatic assault weapon than mass shootings in other settings, but handguns were still the most common weapon used in K-12 mass shootings.

Explore more information about the backgrounds, guns, and motivations of individuals who commit mass shootings using The Violence Project interactive database. [12]

5. The overwhelming majority of individuals who commit K-12 mass shootings struggle with various aspects of mental well-being.

Nearly all individuals who carried out a K-12 mass shooting (92%-100%) were found to be suicidal before or during the shooting. [13] Most experienced significant childhood hardship or trauma. Those who commit K-12 mass shootings commonly have histories of antisocial behavior and, in a minority of cases, various forms of psychoses.

Despite the prevalence of mental well-being struggles in these individuals’ life histories, studies suggest that profiling based on mental health does not aid prevention. [14] However, research on common psychological factors associated with K-12 mass shootings, along with other factors that precipitate school violence, can help inform targeted intervention in coordination with crisis intervention, threat assessment, and improved firearm safety practices.

Learn more from these NIJ reports:

• Understanding the Causes of School Violence Using Open Source Data
• A Multi-Level, Multi-Method Investigation of the Psycho-Social Life Histories of Mass Shooters
• The Causes and Consequences of School Violence: A Review
• A Comprehensive School Safety Framework: Report to the Committees on Appropriations

[note 1] National Institute of Justice funding award description, “Student Threat Assessment as a Safe and Supportive Prevention Strategy,” at the Rector & Visitors of the University of Virginia, award number 2014-CK-BX-0004 ; National Institute of Justice funding award description, “Understanding the Causes of School Violence Using Open Source Data,” at the Research Foundation of the City University of New York, award number 2016-CK-BX-0013 ; National Institute of Justice funding award description, “Mass Shooter Database,” at Hamline University, award number 2018-75-CX-0023 , and National Institute of Justice funding award description, “Improving the Understanding of Mass Shooting Plots,” at the RAND Corporation, award number 2019-R2-CX-0003 .

[note 2] Meagan N. Abel, Steven Chermak, and Joshua D. Freilich, “ Pre-Attack Warning Behaviors of 20 Adolescent School Shooters: A Case Study Analysis ,” Crime & Delinquency 68 no. 5 (2022): 786-813.

[note 3] Jillian Peterson et al., “ Communication of Intent To Do Harm Preceding Mass Public Shootings in the United States, 1966 to 2019 ,” JAMA Network Open 4 no. 11 (2021): e2133073.

[note 4] Abel, Chermak, and Freilich, “Pre-Attack Warning Behaviors”; and Jillian Peterson and James Densley, The Violence Project: How To Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic (New York: Abrams Press, 2021).

[note 5] Michael Planty et al., School Safety Tip Line Toolkit , Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI International.

[note 6] RAND Corporation, “ Mass Attacks Defense Toolkit: Preventing Mass Attacks, Saving Lives ."

[note 7] National Police Foundation, Averted School Violence (ASV) Database: 2021 Analysis Update , Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

[note 8] Dewey Cornell and Jennifer Maeng, “ Student Threat Assessment as a Safe and Supportive Prevention Strategy, Final Technical Report ,” Final report to the National Institute of Justice, award number 2014-CK-BX-0004, August 2020, NCJ 255102.

[note 9] Shelby L. Stohlman and Dewey G. Cornell, “ An Online Educational Program To Increase Student Understanding of Threat Assessment ,” Journal of School Heath 89 no. 11 (2019): 899-906.

[note 10] Cornell and Maeng, “Student Threat Assessment.”

[note 11] Jillian Peterson, “ A Multi-Level, Multi-Method Investigation of the Psycho-Social Life Histories of Mass Shooters ,” Final report to the National Institute of Justice, award number 2018-75-CX-0023, September 2021, NCJ 302101.

[note 12] The Violence Project, “ Mass Shooter Database .”

[note 13] Peterson, “A Multi-Level, Multi-Method Investigation.” 14Dewey G. Cornell, “ Threat Assessment as a School Violence Prevention Strategy ,” Criminology & Public Policy 19 no. 1 (2020): 235-252.

[note 14] Dewey G. Cornell, “Threat Assessment as a School Violence Prevention Strategy,” Criminology & Public Policy 19 no. 1 (2020): 235-252, https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12471.

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School shootings

Risk factors for school shooters, race, gender, class, and school shootings, media portrayals of school shootings.

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Recent News

school shooting , in the typical case, an event in which a student at an educational institution—an elementary, middle, or high school or a college or university—shoots and injures or kills at least one other student or faculty member on the grounds of that institution. Such incidents usually involve multiple deaths. Rampage school shootings are a type of school shooting where no single or specific individual is targeted by the shooter. Although school shootings occur worldwide, the United States has been the scene of the vast majority of the attacks, especially since the late 20th century.

Although school shootings have a long history in the United States, the 1990s were a pivotal point, with high-profile occurrences in such cities as Pearl, Mississippi (1997); West Paducah, Kentucky (1997); Springfield, Oregon (1998); and Jonesboro, Arkansas (1998). However, it was the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999 that brought particular urgency to the issue. In that attack, two students—Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold—killed 13 people before taking their own lives. The shootings garnered massive media attention and sparked a national debate on gun violence. In addition, some schools began taking extra security precautions.

Despite such efforts, school shootings continued, with multiple attacks taking place each year. In 2007 there were about 10 such shootings, the most notable of which occurred at Virginia Tech , where a gunman killed 32 people were killed before killing himself. Later high-profile attacks included the 2012 shooting at an elementary school in Newtown , Connecticut, where 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed 27 people before committing suicide; shortly before the attack he had also killed his mother in their home. The shooting garnered particular attention due to the age of the victims: 20 of those killed were 6–7 years old. In 2018, a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida , killed 17 students and staff members. The attacker was arrested and pled guilty. In 2022, an 18-year-old gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas , where over the course of an hour he killed 19 students, between the ages of 9 and 11, and two teachers. The gunman was eventually killed by a team of federal law enforcement officers.

Given the prevalence of such shootings, many journalistic and scholarly investigations focused on identifying the major risk factors for becoming a school shooter. Most studies identified extreme social rejection and bullying as key risk factors. Social rejection, perpetrated by peers, often included romantic rejection. Bullying took numerous forms, both verbal and physical, and was heavily characterized by actions and words meant to humiliate the victim. Other research-identified risk factors included the availability of guns and the consumption of violent media (especially violent video games, but also violent music, television shows, and films).

Significantly, a more recently identified risk of would-be school shooters was bullying and social rejection that challenged boys’ masculinity, particularly in the form of “gay-baiting.” Other masculinity-driven taunting of boys who became shooters included mocking their physical bodies with labels such as scrawny, little, short, fat, skinny, chubby, or small. Shooters were often the most bullied male members in the school, and the primary bullies of future school shooters were often the most popular male youths in the school, typically the male athletes and “preppies.” Thus, when the bullying victims became shooters, they often attacked the popular males who bullied them. However, the shooters were also likely to attack others with low status in the school, and it was not unusual for school shooters to espouse racist (e.g., Nazi) dogmas .

In addition, it was noted that some of the shooters suffered from psychological problems. In the case of Newtown’s Lanza, medical experts had diagnosed him with various psychiatric disorders, but they had largely been untreated. Cho also had a history of mental illness , and in 2005, two years before his attack at Virginia Tech, a court had found him to be a danger to himself.

The majority of school shootings are committed by white middle-class males living in suburban or rural areas. In attempting to explain this phenomenon, some researchers argued that African American parents recognized the need to prepare their children to face not only bullying but also humiliating racist comments and acts from the dominant culture . They frequently emphasized to their children that racist behaviours are wrong and that their children need not feel alone in their struggle.

Research on the predominantly or exclusively white communities where the white male middle-class school shooters resided painted a very different picture. Parents and school staff in these areas indicated that they offered little or no opportunity either to stop the intense bullying or to help the victims process the emotions and identify strategies for responding. Because the boys were sometimes ashamed to report these violations of their masculinity, parents and school staff were often ignorant of, or ignored, the daily demoralizing, humiliating, and taunting environments embedded in the school and community cultures where the white school shooters lived. Thus, some future school shooters were left to determine on their own how to negotiate their feelings of intense rejection and discrimination relating to their social standing in their schools and among their peers—they were on their own in defending their sense of self in the context of their often extreme physical and verbal bullying and severe personal humiliation.

Research on media representations of school shootings suggested that in the case of white suburban school shootings, newspaper articles were written in a manner more likely to foster sympathy for the shooters. In the case of Klebold and Harris, the shooters at Columbine, they were often portrayed as bullied youths who were victims of a society inundated with violent video games and handguns, blocked from the entitlements their social status typically promised.

Articles on African American urban shootings, however, were found to be shorter, and they portrayed urban crime as “reality.” Furthermore, the research indicated that the media were more likely to stress the need to pursue the shooters and hold them accountable. For example, the media largely portrayed the 1992 school shooting by Joseph White—a 15-year-old African American male who shot and killed another 15-year-old black male and injured two other students at his Chicago high school—as random and without provocation. However, the resulting court case indicated the shooter was responding to the reality of the prevalent dangerous youth and gang culture in which he lived.

May 25, 2022

What We Know about Mass School Shootings—and Shooters—in the U.S.

Criminologists explain what the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex., and other deadly assaults have in common

By James Densley , Jillian Peterson & The Conversation US

Law enforcement officers speak together outside of Robb Elementary School following the mass shooting on May 24, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas. According to reports, 19 students and 2 adults were killed, with the gunman fatally shot by law enforcement.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation , an online publication covering the latest research.

When the Columbine High School massacre took place in 1999 it was seen as a watershed moment in the United States – the worst mass shooting at a school in the country’s history.

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Now, it ranks fourth. The three school shootings to surpass its death toll of 13 – 12 students, one teacher – have all taken place within the last decade: 2012’s Sandy Hook Elementary attack , in which a gunman killed 26 children and school staff; the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which claimed the lives of 17 people ; and now the Robb Elementary School assault in Uvalde, Texas, where on May 24, 2022, at least 19 children and two adults were murdered.

We are criminologists who study the life histories of public mass shooters in the U.S. As part of that research, we built a comprehensive database of mass public shootings using public data, with the shooters coded on over 200 different variables, including location and racial profile. For the purposes of our database, mass public shootings are defined as incidents in which four or more victims are murdered with at least one of those homicides taking place in a public location and with no connection to underlying criminal activity, such as gangs or drugs.

Our database shows that since 1966, when our database timeline begins, there have been 13 such shootings at schools across the U.S – the first in Stockton, California , in 1989.

Four of those shootings – including the one at Robb Elementary School – involved a killing at another location, always a family member at a residence. There have been reports the most recent perpetrator shot his grandmother prior to going to the school in Uvalde, although that has yet to be officially confirmed.

The majority of mass school shootings were carried out by a lone gunman, with just two – Columbine and the 1998 shooting at Westside School in Jonesboro, Arkansas – carried out by two gunmen. In all, some 146 people were killed in the attacks and at least 182 victims injured.*

The choice of “gunmen” to describe the perpetrators is accurate – all of the mass school shootings in our database were carried out by men or boys . And the average age of those involved in carrying out the attacks was 18.

This fits with the picture that has emerged of the shooter in the Robb Elementary School attack . He turned 18 just days ago and purchased two military-style weapons thought to be the ones used in the attack.

Police have yet to release key information on the shooter, including what motivated him to kill the children and adults at Robb Elementary School. The picture of the shooter that has emerged conforms to the profile we have built up from past perpetrators in some ways, but diverges in others.

We know that most school shooters have a connection to the school they target. Twelve of the 14 school shooters in our database prior to the most recent attack in Texas were either current or former students of the school. Any prior connection between the latest shooter and Robb Elementary School has not been released to the public.

Our research and dozens of interviews with incarcerated perpetrators of mass shootings suggests that for most perpetrators, the mass shooting event is intended to be a final act. The majority of school mass shooters die in the attack. Of the 15 mass school shooters in our database, just seven were apprehended. The rest died on the scene, nearly all by suicide – the lone exception being the Robb Elementary shooter, who was shot dead by police.

And school shooters tend to preempt their attacks by leaving posts, messages or videos warning of their intent.

Inspired by past school shooters, some perpetrators are seeking fame and notoriety . However, most school shooters are motivated by a generalized anger. Their path to violence involves self-hate and despair turned outward at the world, and our research finds they often communicate their intent to do harm in advance as a final, desperate cry for help . The key to stopping these tragedies is for society to be alert to these warning signs and act on them immediately.

This article was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article .

*Editor’s Note (5/25/22): Our partners at The Conversation have edited this sentence after posting to correct the date of the shooting at Westside School in Jonesboro, Ark.

Daily News Lesson

May 27, 2022, 2 p.m.

Lesson plan: How to talk as a class about gun violence in schools

• Reflect and create connections for their own mental well-being, which we’ll refer to as Psychological First Aid.
• Exchange resources and observations on how their communities understand, cope and heal from tragedy.
• How is school safety defined and implemented on your campus?
• How can communities take care of one another in the aftermath of community violence?

Grade Levels

Supplemental links.

• GOOGLE DOC LESSON
• WRITING PROMPTS

Originally published May 22, 2022, after the Uvalde school shooting. Updated Sept. 5, 2024

Lesson by Kate Stevens. For a google doc version of this lesson, click here .

While mental health is often at the forefront of these discussions, the way we discuss them with students can either destigmatize mental health, or further stigmatize the issue. Check out “Trauma-Informed Teaching Strategies” and consider how you might design lessons tha t engage students through a trauma-informed lens.

Warm Up & Watch (15-20 mins)

Start with the facts. If needed, offer a recap of what happened, where it happened and other factual & verified information. Give students a place to ask questions and clarify what they know (and what may be rumors or misinformation). Note that new information about the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, is emerging every day. You can find the latest updates here .

You may want to prepare the students for watching the latest news by starting with the following video:

In this segment from Student Reporting Labs, hear from Michigan educators following the 2021 school shooting in Oxford, Michigan: How Michigan educators are talking to students about the Oxford school shooting (3 minutes). Allow participants space and time to share their thoughts, reactions or feelings.

While watching, ask learners to listen deeply; notice what common themes or messages emerge from those speaking. What stood out or resonated to you as you listened? Why? Invite participants to share out after being given some time to write & reflect. (This is a great opportunity to turn and talk to a partner, exchange ideas and have partners share out.)

Option 1: Respond in notebooks. Possible Prompts: What do students know about what happened? What did they hear or see, which may or may not be factual? How do they feel about the latest school shooting, school safety or how they respond to such instances of community violence? Set aside any additional time to catch up on the known facts, and clarify with participants. Choose the thinking prompts that best meet the needs of participants.

Option 2: Facilitate a class conversation or circle. What do participants notice? What do they wonder? What and how do they feel? Invite participants to share, and establish norms for discussing vulnerable topics.

• Some helpful norms may include: Starting and ending with deep breaths, only one person may speak at a time, establishing the purpose for the conversation (ex: to listen, not to debate), thanking people for sharing.

Main activity

Processing tragedy, school shootings and community violence looks different for everyone; however, there are some fundamental strategies for supporting communities & individuals in the wake of trauma. As an educator, remember to make time for yourself too. You can’t pour from an empty cup.

In this main activity, students will learn about Psychological First Aid, create their own first aid kit, and have an opportunity to learn about & share resources available to them.

Learn: Your students probably noticed a common theme among the educators interviewed in the segment above, which was the focus on healing and supporting individuals impacted by the shooting. Some teachers expressed how crucial listening is, others expressed being steadfast and predictable. One of the ways we can frame “taking care of ourselves” is creating a mental health or Psychological First Aid kit.

Source: Learning for Justice & U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Psychological First Aid guidelines, including the US Department of Homeland Security’s “Listen, Protect, Connect, Model & Teach,” help pivot communities toward healing, and provide guidance for how to process.

Whole Group: Introduce students to the Listen, Protect, Connect, Model & Teach framework, and learn the basic principles of each area. Share the graphic in this doc with your students.

As a whole group or in small groups, generate some examples of each aspect and collect the ideas on the board or in notebooks.

• What are some examples of the opposite ? For example, what might it look like to be a poor listener? Or to not have healthy boundaries? (Ex: When I use Snapchat to stay connected with my friends and get support vs. when I mindlessly scroll or feel drained or bad after spending time on social media.

Apply: Now that participants have some familiarity with Psychological First Aid, ask them to reflect and construct their own first aid tool kit. Prompts and writing space are available on the doc available here . What can they add? What has helped in the past? What ideas from the group brainstorm may they refine or envision in their life?

• Students can be as creative as they can imagine with this task (i.e.  brochure, slideshow, infographic, poster, etc.) or keep it as simple as creating a chart in their notebooks with emojis or icons to help connect ideas.Students can use the following questions to help generate ideas about each step of the Psychological First Aid tool kit.

Note: Since this is a student’s first aid kit, you may wish to determine if you’re collecting this task to respect student privacy. There may be important ideas on a student’s first aid kit that they may not be comfortable sharing with others.

Reflect and discuss: After students complete their first aid kits, ask if any students are comfortable sharing some of their ideas or have any suggestions for the community first aid kid, and where they may want support (as individuals, or as a community). This is a great opportunity for the facilitator to share their own strategies (model & teach) that work for them. Affirm that it is normal and okay to feel what they feel, and that no one has to share anything from their first aid kit if they do not wish to (respecting student privacy).

• What resources are available in and out of school? Who can they go to and how can a student get connected with those resources?
• How can they support the community, both their close friends and peers they don’t know at all as they pass them in the hallway?
• What have they noticed or seen from their own communities (or other communities) in carrying on and picking up the pieces after community violence?

Closing: After concluding the lesson, try collecting 1-2 key takeaways from students as an exit ticket. Or, if students are comfortable sharing, ask them to share ideas that benefit the whole community first aid kit.

Extension activities

• Classroom Voices: How do teens want to solve America’s school shooting problem? In this story, originally published in 2018, middle and high school students shared their thoughts on gun violence with NewsHour after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
• Discover: What resources and services are available for participants if they are concerned about a friend or classmates hurting themselves or others? Connect with your school’s counselors, mental health team or community resources. Share these directly with participants, especially upon concluding traumatic topics.
• Discuss: To understand gun policy in the U.S. and hear from lawmakers on what gun regulations are under debate, see this story and this story .

Kate Stevens, M.S. in Curriculum & Instruction, is a high school language arts educator.  An instructional coach, global professional development leader, and former photojournalist, she currently teaches & coaches in Poudre School District (Fort Collins, CO). In 2015, Kate was honored with Colorado Department of Education’s Online & Blended Teacher of the Year. Connect with Kate on Twitter @KateTeaching.

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School Shootings: Five Critical Questions

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The school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., stoked many questions about safety, guns, and the psychology behind such attacks. Here’s what the research says about school shootings.

What counts as a school shooting?

Advocacy and research organizations use widely varying criteria about which incidents should be considered school shootings, leading to sometimes conflicting figures in news reports.

Everytown for Gun Safety , a group that advocates for more-restrictive gun laws, includes in its count any incident in which “a firearm discharges a live round inside a school building or on a school campus or grounds,” including on the campuses of colleges and universities. That count includes suicides and incidents that did not result in injuries, like the accidental discharge of a security guard’s weapon.

Other organizations only track mass shootings, using differing criteria for what is involved in such incidents. Those lists leave out many school shootings that don’t meet the minimum threshold for injuries and deaths, but that still had significant effects on schools and communities.

Federal data on school shootings are limited. The annual Indicators of School Crime and Safety Report—assembled by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education— only tracks violent deaths in schools , breaking them into categories of suicides and homicides. But that data do not specify what, if any, weapons were used in those incidents, and they don’t include a breakdown of firearm injuries in schools.

Education Week ‘s tracker includes shootings with firearms at K-12 schools, on school buses, or at school events that resulted in at least one firearm-related injury to an individual who was not the suspect. The total count of injuries for each incident may be minor or major and are not necessarily the result of gunfire.

Are school shootings becoming more common?

Heavy news coverage and social media discussions about school shootings, like the one in Parkland, have stoked fears that the number of school shootings have increased dramatically in recent years. Experts who study mass shootings, including those in schools, say that they are not happening more frequently, but many of them are more deadly than past attacks.

Three of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history have happened in the last year, including Parkland, which ranks eighth. Federal data appear to contradict popular notions that schools have grown significantly less safe in recent years.

The numbers of school-associated violent deaths have not trended upward in the last 20 years. Other forms of student victimization are on a downward trend, and fewer students report fear of harm at school than in previous years, the most recent federal data show.

Do school shooters fit a specific profile?

There are widely held beliefs about the “profile” of a student shooter, but school safety experts say acts of school violence have been carried out by attackers of all races, ages, disciplinary histories, and family backgrounds.

School safety experts say it’s important for schools to take all threats and concerns seriously, regardless of the profile of the student involved.

A 2002 report by the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center, prepared after the agency analyzed 37 school shootings, concluded that “there is no accurate or useful ‘profile’ of students who engaged in targeted school violence.”

In the incidents analyzed, attackers fell all along the social spectrum, from popular students to “loners,” the Secret Service report said. While the agency didn’t find common demographic threads, it did note some psychological trends among attackers: Many “felt bullied, persecuted, or injured by others prior to the attack,” many had a history of suicide attempts or feelings of depression or desperation, and most had no history of criminal behavior.

School shooting suspects are predominantly male , and researchers have various theories about why.

“The fact that school shooters are typically male is part of the overall phenomenon of violence being a predominantly male phenomenon,” said Peter Langman, a psychologist who studies school shootings and has authored several books about them.

In the case of “rampage shootings,” perpetrators often have a sense of “ damaged masculinity ,” which Langman defines as a sense of failure or inadequacy in parts of their life that they have linked to male identity, like sexuality or physical strength, he said.

What can be done to prevent school shootings?

As the public searches for answers after a school shooting, family members and classmates often suggest it was an unexpected, impulsive act , saying things like “He just snapped.”

But psychologists and school safety experts say that’s rarely the case. One of the most important ways to keep schools safe is to create a consistent, reliable system for reporting and responding to concerns about students’ intentions, they say.

“I think this idea of ‘just snapped’ really undermines the importance of ongoing risk management and assessment,” Anders Goranson, a psychologist and threat-assessment specialist, said in a lecture at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in 2014. People need to feel empowered to share information or conversations that “made the hair stand up on the back of their neck,” he said.

The U.S. Secret Service report concluded that attackers in 31 of 37 analyzed shooting incidents had told at least one person about their plans beforehand. In 22 cases, two or more people knew about the planned attack in advance, the study concluded. In nearly all cases, those peers were classmates, siblings, and friends of the attackers, it said.

That idea of “leakage” has motivated many states and school systems to create advanced anonymous reporting systems that allow youth to report suspicious behavior by their peers. The operators of a tipline in Colorado, which was started after the school shootings at Columbine High School in 1999, believe that system has helped dismantle the plans of multiple would-be school shooters.

Sandy Hook Promise, an organization formed by parents of children who died in the 2012 Newtown, Conn., school shootings, also works to train schools in threat assessment . In special sessions, teachers learn to identify and address concerns. The organization also works with students to encourage speaking up when peers contemplate harming themselves or others in a campaign called “Say Something.”

Are guns the only threat to school safety?

Guns are not the only threat to school safety, though most public policy discussions are centered on the risk of school shootings.

In 2014, a 16-year-old boy injured 21 students and a school security officer when he went on a stabbing spree with two large kitchen knives in a crowded hallway of his Pennsylvania high school.

And the deadliest school attack in U.S. history happened in 1927, when a man blew up a school in Bath Township, Mich., with hundreds of pounds of dynamite. Forty-five people died, including 38 children and the attacker himself.

Video: How Schools Should Respond to a Student’s Threats

School shootings have led teachers and administrators to rethink their actions when a student makes a threat. Dewey Cornell, a professor of education at the University of Virginia, has been studying school violence for decades and has developed guidelines for schools to follow:

More Resources The answers to some other questions about school shootings can be found in the Education Week archives:

• Learn more about the debate over arming teachers .
• Hear from educators who’ve organized to oppose bills that would make it easier to carry guns in schools.
• Read about the debate over school safety drills that teach students to “run, hide, and fight.”
• Learn about efforts to prevent school shootings through threat assessment .
• See a collection of Education Week ‘s coverage of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Conn.

How to Cite This Article Blad, E. (2018, February 16). School Shootings: Five Critical Questions. Education Week . Retrieved Month Day, Year from https://www.edweek.org/leadership/school-shootings-five-critical-questions/2018/02

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How to talk with kids about school shootings and other traumatic events

Mourners pray during a candlelight vigil for the slain students and teachers at Apalachee High School, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Chimain Douglas, of Grayson, Ga., kneels near Apalachee High School as she mourns for the slain students and teachers on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

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Mass shootings have effects on communities that are felt long after the day’s tragedy. School shootings in particular can have physical, emotional and behavioral effects on kids.

Many health experts, including psychologists and grief counselors, remind people there are resources to support students’ mental and emotional health as they grieve and process.

Here’s how they say families should address traumatic experiences with their kids.

Don’t avoid the conversation

It takes time to process emotions, regardless of age, so adults should start by taking care of themselves. That said, experts encourage parents to have conversations with their children and not avoid the topic, if kids indicate a willingness to talk about it.

“If they are not hearing about it from you as their parent, they will hear about it from their friends at school,” says Emilie Ney, director of professional development at the National Association of School Psychologists.

It’s OK for caregivers to say they don’t have all the answers and not force the conversation, according to guidance from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network . Being available and patient is key.

This isn’t just a job for parents and guardians. All adults should remember to be available for the kids in their life. After all, not all children have trusted adults they can speak with, said Crystal Garrant, chief program officer at Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit group that works to prevent suicides and mass shootings.

This article is part of AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health. Read more Be Well.

For instance, she said, adults who work in before-school or after-school programs should ask the kids in their care open-ended questions, do community-building activities or provide kids with other opportunities to share openly. They may not have the opportunity to do so otherwise.

Tailor the talk to the child’s age

How much children are able to understand a situation will depend on their age and development, Ney said.

“There is no specific age target for these conversations,” said Garrant, who has a 9-year-old daughter. “But make sure that younger children understand the word that you’re using. When we say safety, what does it mean to feel safe? How does it feel in your body? What does it sound like when you’re not safe?”

Some children may have emotional and behavioral responses to traumatic events, such as anxiety, nightmares or difficulty concentrating.

Younger children need simple information and reassurances their schools and homes are safe, guidance from the National Association of School Psychologists notes. Older children have a deeper capacity for understanding and could benefit from hearing about what agency they might have to keep themselves safe.

Validate big feelings about school shootings

Recognizing, acknowledging and validating children’s emotions are key, said Beverly Warnock, executive director of the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children based in Cincinnati.

“You need to get those feelings out and be honest,” she said. “Don’t try to squash the feelings or not talk about it. It’s something that will be with you for the rest of your life.”

The process of navigating emotions after a shooting can be confusing and frustrating for people, Ney said.

“The stages of grief are not necessarily sequential. People may go in and out of the various different phases, and it may be that it doesn’t really hit someone until a week later,” Ney said.

Psychologists hope to reassure people their feelings are normal and they don’t have to pretend they are unaffected.

“Even if you didn’t know anyone involved, even if they were very far away from you, it is okay to grieve,” Ney said. “It shows that you care about others.”

After acknowledging the emotional response, Warnock said, there is comfort in knowing life goes on.

“You will find a coping skill, and you will be able to enjoy life again,” she said. “You may not feel that way now, but it does happen. It’s just going to take some time.”

If you need more help

If you or someone you know are experiencing distress because of a mass shooting, you can call the 24/7 National Disaster Distress Helpline. The number is 1-800-985-5990 , and Spanish speakers can press “2” for bilingual support. To connect directly to a crisis counselor in American Sign Language, call 1-800-985-5990 from your videophone.

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How to talk with kids about school shootings and other traumatic events

The U.S. is dealing with another school shooting: Two students and two teachers were killed at a school in Georgia

Mass shootings have effects on communities that are felt long after the day's tragedy. School shootings in particular can have physical, emotional and behavioral effects on kids.

Many health experts, including psychologists and grief counselors, remind people there are resources to support students’ mental and emotional health as they grieve and process.

Here's how they say families should address traumatic experiences with their kids.

It takes time to process emotions, regardless of age, so adults should start by taking care of themselves. That said, experts encourage parents to have conversations with their children and not avoid the topic, if kids indicate a willingness to talk about it.

“If they are not hearing about it from you as their parent, they will hear about it from their friends at school,” says Emilie Ney​​​​, director of professional development at the National Association of School Psychologists.

It's OK for caregivers to say they don’t have all the answers and not force the conversation, according to guidance from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network . Being available and patient is key.

This isn't just a job for parents and guardians. All adults should remember to be available for the kids in their life. After all, not all children have trusted adults they can speak with, said Crystal Garrant, chief program officer at Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit group that works to prevent suicides and mass shootings.

For instance, she said, adults who work in before-school or after-school programs should ask the kids in their care open-ended questions, do community-building activities or provide kids with other opportunities to share openly. They may not have the opportunity to do so otherwise.

How much children are able to understand a situation will depend on their age and development, Ney said.

“There is no specific age target for these conversations,” said Garrant, who has a 9-year-old daughter. “But make sure that younger children understand the word that you’re using. When we say safety, what does it mean to feel safe? How does it feel in your body? What does it sound like when you’re not safe?”

Some children may have emotional and behavioral responses to traumatic events, such as anxiety, nightmares or difficulty concentrating.

Younger children need simple information and reassurances their schools and homes are safe, guidance from the National Association of School Psychologists notes. Older children have a deeper capacity for understanding and could benefit from hearing about what agency they might have to keep themselves safe.

Recognizing, acknowledging and validating children's emotions are key, said Beverly Warnock, executive director of the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children based in Cincinnati.

“You need to get those feelings out and be honest," she said. "Don’t try to squash the feelings or not talk about it. It’s something that will be with you for the rest of your life.”

The process of navigating emotions after a shooting can be confusing and frustrating for people, Ney said.

“The stages of grief are not necessarily sequential. People may go in and out of the various different phases, and it may be that it doesn’t really hit someone until a week later," Ney said.

Psychologists hope to reassure people their feelings are normal and they don't have to pretend they are unaffected.

“Even if you didn’t know anyone involved, even if they were very far away from you, it is okay to grieve,” Ney said. “It shows that you care about others.”

After acknowledging the emotional response, Warnock said, there is comfort in knowing life goes on.

“You will find a coping skill, and you will be able to enjoy life again,” she said. “You may not feel that way now, but it does happen. It’s just going to take some time."

If you or someone you know are experiencing distress because of a mass shooting, you can call the 24/7 National Disaster Distress Helpline. The number is 1-800-985-5990 , and Spanish speakers can press “2” for bilingual support. To connect directly to a crisis counselor in American Sign Language, call 1-800-985-5990 from your videophone.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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How to Talk to Children About School Shootings: Guidance for Parents

When school shootings are in the news, it can be hard to figure out how to talk about them with your child. But ignoring these incidents is not an option, especially as school shootings have become increasingly more common.

School shootings can have a deep impact on the mental health of youth – both those who are directly exposed to the incidents, and those who experience it through the news, social media, online video and through school shooter drills, now common at many schools. The latter is known as secondary trauma , when young people who have exposure to images or stories about a traumatic event experience heightened stress, irritability and sadness.

While we sometimes have the impulse to avoid talking about topics that are difficult or sensitive, doing so leaves your child to process these complex issues on their own and opens them up to confusion and false narratives.

Intentional, supportive dialogue with young people can help them navigate the many emotions and worries these events stir up. Creating a safe space for reflection and questions will empower your child to build critical life skills related to problem-solving, emotion management, resilience and self-control.

How to Talk to Children About School Shootings

Parents, caregivers and families are often the frontline of safety for young people. That’s why it’s important for families to be ready to have conversations around safety and managing emotions during times of crisis. Here are some ways to initiate conversations with your kid about school shootings:

Address the Incident Directly

Let your kid or teen that you are aware of the incident and that you understand it may be on their mind as well, and that you’re here to support them. Don’t assume they’ll come to you to strike up conversation. Instead, start an open dialogue by asking them direct questions such as:

• “Tell me what you’ve heard about [the incident]?”
• “What do you know about [the incident] that took place this week?”
• “What have you seen or heard about [the incident] on the news or on social media?”

Show Willingness to Answer Questions

It is important for kids and teens to know that you are here to support them and that they view you as a resource. Make sure to show willingness to talk and answer questions about the incident by saying things such as:

• “Do you have any questions about what happened?”
• “I am here to talk and answer any questions you may have about [the incident].”
• “I know that this is upsetting, so please know that I am here to answer any questions or concerns you have about [the incident].”

Validate and Listen to Feelings

Ask your child to share their feelings about the incident and respond with empathy. It is also important to validate their feelings, and not tell them how they should feel or assume you know how they feel. Here are some helpful prompts:

• “It sounds like you are feeling [sad/upset/scared] about this [incident].”
• “Do you feel safe at school and in our community? What is it that you’re worried about?”

Acknowledge and validate their responses and try not to answer with throwaway statements such as “You are going to be fine” or “I know how you feel,” which can discount their feelings and shut down the conversation. By listening to their feelings and giving them space, you can create a safe environment for your child to bring up their emotions, knowing you’ll always hear them out, no matter what.

Find Ways to Reconnect to Community

With their sense of safety rocked, young people may feel worried or fearful about the world around them. It’s important to find ways to reconnect to community, whether it’s through grieving the incident together, working on related projects or solutions, or tapping back into the power of social connection.

Based on your child’s age and development, some ideas might include:

• Maintaining routines and ensuring younger children especially get ample opportunity for play and self-expression.
• If the incident was local, attending vigils or other moments of togetherness and mourning.
• Older youth may wish to join school, Boys & Girls Club or community efforts to discuss solutions or projects to improve the community.

In addition to this guidance, there are a variety of services and organizations to support young people and their families during times of crisis. Click here to find numbers to call or text to receive additional support.

Sign Up for Parent Resources

Boys & Girls Clubs of America supports young people and communities year-round through safe and inclusive places, caring mentors and life-enhancing programs. Find a Boys & Girls Club near you or sign up for our newsletter to receive parent resources and youth stories.

STAY INFORMED WITH NEWS & UPDATES

Stress of mass shootings causing cascade of collective traumas

The regularity of mass shootings is razing Americans’ mental health—heightening stress and dulling compassion in ways that demand broader concern, engagement, and change

Vol. 53 No. 6 Print version: page 20

• Gun Violence and Crime
• Physical Abuse and Violence

As mass shootings continue to erupt in schools, grocery stores, restaurants, and other public places and establishments we visit every week, Americans are living in fear. For children and teens, whose mental health is already in crisis , the ongoing backdrop of violence is steadily eroding the sense of well-being, safety, and efficacy known to be essential for healthy development. As of Oct. 26, there have been 566 mass shootings reported and verified in the United States in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive . The incidence of mass shootings in the United States is growing and is correlated with increases in gun sales ( Newsome, K., et al., Journal of Surgical Research , Vol. 280, 2022 ).

On top of recent surges in depression, anxiety, and suicides, a majority of teens now say they worry about a shooting happening at their school ( Pew Research Center , 2018). Those concerns have been linked with elevated anxiety levels and fear among students (O’Brien, C., & Taku, K., Personality and Individual Differences , Vol. 186, 2022 ). Meanwhile, clinical psychologists, including Erika Felix, PhD, of the University of California, Santa Barbara, say the young people they treat are on high alert, constantly planning their escape route if violence breaks out in public.

“These tragedies are happening far too often, and the result is that many young people are feeling this constant back-of-the-mind stress,” Felix said.

That stress is, of course, embedded within the context of the pandemic, the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, economic challenges, political polarization, climate-related disasters, and other factors, which combine to create what psychologist Roxane Cohen Silver, PhD, of the University of California, Irvine, calls a “cascade of collective traumas” that the nation is facing together.

“We’re not starting at a place where everybody is healthy and thriving,” said Rinad Beidas, PhD, a professor of psychiatry, medical ethics and health policy, and medicine at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. “Our reserves are depleted as a nation and our young people are suffering.”

Fear of mass shootings has left a large majority of Americans feeling stressed, including a third of adults who say they now avoid certain places and events as a result ( Stress in America: Fear of mass shootings , APA, 2019). Experts say the frequency of mass shootings, amplified by our near-constant access to media coverage of such events, amounts to an accumulation of exposure that is harming everyone’s mental health.

[ Related: APA resources for coping with mass shootings ]

“The more catastrophic events we’re exposed to as a nation, the more impacted we’re going to be on a psychological level,” said Jonathan S. Comer, PhD, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Florida International University.

While some people report panic and distress, others feel numb. Psychological reactions to a crisis vary from one person to the next, based on factors such as age, trauma history, and proximity to an incident. But research has started to reveal who is most likely to be affected, what the long-term mental health problems will be, and what role media exposure plays. Psychology offers guidance about how to channel concern into action amid these atrocities.

“We’re at a really important inflection point as a country where we all understand that what’s currently happening with regard to mass shootings cannot continue,” said Beidas, who also directs the Penn Medicine Nudge Unit and Penn Implementation Science Center. “I come to this with a lot of hope that we’re all recognizing that it’s time to do things differently.”

A cycle of distress

Mass shootings account for about 1% of annual firearm deaths in the United States, but they occupy an outsize space in the public consciousness.

“These events are still relatively rare, but it doesn’t feel that way,” said school psychologist Franci Crepeau-Hobson, PhD, an associate professor and director of clinical training at the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Education and Human Development. “I think that everybody’s sense of security has been threatened.”

For survivors and witnesses of mass shootings, suffering tends to be particularly severe. Studies have documented increases in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression, anxiety disorders, substance use disorder, and other conditions among people who have survived a mass shooting.

“A common theme is that more exposure tends to be associated with more severe symptoms,” said clinical psychologist Sarah Lowe, PhD, an assistant professor of social and behavioral sciences at Yale School of Public Health, who led a 2015 literature review on the mental health consequences of mass shootings ( Trauma, Violence, and Abuse , Vol. 18, No. 1, 2015 ).

But the research is still very limited. In Lowe’s review, PTSD prevalence ranged from 3% to 91%, depending on the study, and methodological questions remain, such as what even constitutes a mass shooting.

Though relatively few people will witness or survive mass shootings, many more will experience them through news reports and social media.

“There’s a great deal of evidence that individuals who are far away from mass shootings can face anxiety and impairments, and this is often correlated with the amount of media exposure they have,” Comer said.

Such findings are highly concerning given how intertwined people’s lives are with media, researchers say. Silver and her colleagues have studied that link for more than 20 years, showing how high levels of exposure to media coverage of 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombings predicted symptoms of acute stress and posttraumatic stress ( Psychological Science , Vol. 24, No. 9, 2013 ; PNAS , Vol. 111, No. 1, 2014 ).

Over time, media exposure to mass violence can even fuel a cycle of distress, where persistent worry about future violence predicts more media consumption and more stress, the researchers found (Thompson, R. R., et al., Science Advances , Vol. 5, No. 4, 2019 ). That constant worry, known as “perseverative cognition,” has been linked to declines in physical health, including cardiovascular problems (Ottaviani, C., et al., Psychological Bulletin , Vol. 142, No. 3, 2016 ; JAMA Psychiatry , Vol. 65, No. 1, 2008 ).

In addition to the risks of media exposure, people with a history of trauma are more likely to experience posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms following a new exposure, such as a terrorist attack or mass shooting (Garfin, D. R., et al., Psychological Science , Vol. 26, No. 6, 2015 ). Physical proximity to an incident also carries a higher risk of mental health problems. One study of 44 school shootings found that antidepressant use increased more than 20% among young people who lived within 5 miles of a shooting, versus those who lived 10 to 15 miles away (Rossin-Slater, M., et al., PNAS , Vol. 117, No. 38, 2020 ).

Psychological proximity—the degree to which we relate to another person or an event—also increases the risk for PTS symptoms (Thoresen, S., et al., European Journal of Psychotraumatology , Vol. 3, No. 1, 2012 ).

“Oftentimes, the more one identifies with the victims, the more difficulty they have in the aftermath of an event like this,” Comer said.

While some people worry regularly about mass shootings, many are fatigued by the seemingly endless cycle of violence that moves rapidly through the media and public discourse.

“There’s not one single way people are experiencing these tragedies, and there’s no one-size-fits-all response,” Silver said. “One person might be very impacted by an event, and another may not be concerned about it at all.”

Research by cognitive psychologists helps explains how we perceive mass violence and why it can leave some people feeling numb. Paul Slovic, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, and his colleagues have shown that in many cases, the more people who die in an incident of mass violence, the less we care. They call this phenomenon the “ deadly arithmetic of compassion .”

Their research shows that people’s intuitive feelings of concern for victims of violence don’t respond well to statistics and don’t scale up. In other words, the horror people felt when 19 children and two adults were shot and killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, isn’t 21 times greater than what people feel when one child is murdered. Slovic and other psychologists call this dampening of the emotional response “psychic numbing.”

At the same time, people often have a false sense of inefficacy in the face of very large problems, which can lead to inaction and disengagement. In one study, participants who saw statistics about the magnitude of the hunger crisis in Africa donated about half as much money as those who saw a photo of a single child in need ( PLoS ONE , Vol. 9, No. 6, 2014 ).

“If we believe there’s a problem that we can’t do anything about, it makes sense that we don’t attend to it, because it’s very distressing to dwell on things you can’t fix,” Slovic said.

Finally, research on what’s known as the “prominence effect” shows how people often struggle to make decisions when they require weighing complex tradeoffs ( University of Illinois Law Review Slip Opinions , 2015). In the case of gun legislation, this helps explain why the complex calculus of lives saved versus freedoms sacrificed has largely resulted in inaction at the policy level.

And on top of this deadly arithmetic, our attention is a scarce resource. Time passes, memories fade, and we’re inclined to shift our attention elsewhere if we don’t see progress. National surveys have shown that support for gun legislation spikes in the immediate aftermath of a mass shooting but fades within a few weeks (Jose, R., et al., Psychology of Violence , Vol. 11, No. 4, 2021 ; Filindra, A., et al., Social Science Quarterly , Vol. 101, No. 5, 2020 ).

“Our mind deceives us into underreacting to the most important problems in the world, including mass violence,” Slovic said. “But when one of these events occurs, we do have a window of opportunity when people are awake, emotionally engaged, and motivated for action.”

Youth on high alert

The stress of mass shootings may weigh particularly heavily on children and teens, whose mental health is already in turmoil. In 2021, three leading pediatric organizations declared a national emergency , while the U.S. Surgeon General issued a special advisory on youth mental health , citing a 57% increase in suicides between 2007 and 2018 (Curtin, S. C., National Vital Statistics Reports , Vol. 69, No. 11, 2020 ).

Research shows that at least some of that distress can be attributed to mass violence. One study of more than 2,000 teens found that greater concern about school shootings and violence predicted increases in anxiety and panic six months later (Riehm, K. E., et al., JAMA Network Open , Vol. 4, No. 11, 2021 ).

“When I talk to kids about this, I am shocked by how inured and accepting they are,” said Don Grant, PhD, the executive director of outpatient services for Newport Academy in Santa Monica, California, and is president of APA’s Division 46 (Society for Media Psychology and Technology). “They don’t know a world where there’s not an active shooter drill at school.”

In the educational context, that constant vigilance can be particularly problematic, and research on threat perception suggests that prolonged heightened anxiety may interfere with learning, said Crepeau-Hobson. Students who are constantly worried about a toxic stressor, such as gun violence, devote more mental resources to emotions and fewer to executive functions, including learning, memory, and sustaining attention (Dettmer, A. M., & Hughes, T. L., Education Week , 2022).

“When threat perceptions are escalated and stress responses are activated, we can’t access the higher parts of our brain,” Crepeau-Hobson said.

Data suggest those effects could be far-reaching. A 2020 report from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that school shootings increased absenteeism, reduced high school and college graduation rates, and decreased retention of teachers. Those effects persisted into the mid-20s of young adults who attended schools where a shooting occurred; they had lower employment rates and earnings than their peers (Cabral, M., et al., NBER Working Paper 28311 , 2022).

“It’s not just that individual young people experience these really deleterious effects, but there is also a societal effect,” Beidas said.

Because mass shootings impact children and teens at the individual, institutional, and societal levels, experts say a tiered approach is needed to minimize harm.

In the family context, it’s important to initiate conversations with children and teens after an incident, even if they aren’t part of the affected community, said Comer.

“When kids hear about these events from their parents, they tend to do better than when they hear about it from their friends or the media first,” he said.

If a child or teen becomes hypervigilant or starts to avoid certain places or activities, that may indicate a need for professional support, said Grant.

Educators and policymakers also need empirical data on what makes schools safe—both physically and psychologically, said Crepeau-Hobson, a member of the APA’s Division 16 (School Psychology) executive committee.

“A number of schools are wasting their resources on strategies that aren’t particularly helpful, without thinking about their psychological impact on children who are coming to school to learn,” she said.

School districts across the nation are spending billions of dollars to enhance security, installing emergency alert systems and hiring additional personnel. But many of the new approaches lack evidence and could even cause harm. For example, a law enforcement presence may make some students feel safer but may undermine a sense of safety in others, such as students of color. Early studies of active shooter drills—which are now nearly ubiquitous—suggest they may increase anxiety, stress, and depression symptoms in children and adolescents (“ The Impact of Active Shooter Drills in Schools ,” Everytown Research and Policy , 2020).

Communities also need to be prepared to support children in the immediate aftermath of a mass shooting. Last year, Comer launched the Network for Enhancing Wellness and Disaster-Affected Youth ( new day ), which delivers large-scale professional training on disaster mental health across the country. new day teaches Psychological First Aid and other skills to teachers, coaches, nurses, and others who work with children and teens.

Sustaining engagement

More research is also needed on how mental health services can best support survivors, families, and affected communities in the aftermath of a mass shooting, experts say. Richer firearm-injury and mortality datasets can also help researchers better understand the conditions surrounding these crises.

But many feel change is urgently needed, and that partnering with the firearm community—to promote more secure storage of firearms, for example—is one way to start reducing firearm injuries and deaths right away, Beidas said.

More than 7 million Americans bought firearms for the first time between January 2019 and April 2021, mostly for self-protection (Miller, M., et al., Annals of Internal Medicine , Vol. 175, No. 2, 2022 ). That suggests many people need education on secure storage (see “ Talking to patients about firearm safety,” April 2022 Monitor ), and that the recommended method of storing a gun unloaded and locked, with ammunition locked separately, might not be acceptable to all firearm owners.

“We need to establish a shared mission with the firearm community,” Beidas said, “and keep in mind that a harm reduction approach is the most effective way to change behavior.”

At the policy level, a majority of Americans support stricter gun laws, but progress in that domain may be incremental (Jose, R., et al., Psychology of Violence , Vol. 11, No. 4, 2021 ). Slovic said it’s important to stay engaged and not to let a false sense of inefficacy prevent us from taking steps in the right direction.

“Just because we can’t fix a problem in its entirety doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do what we can do to make a difference,” he said. “We cannot afford to let our minds deceive us into underreacting.”

Further reading

Empowering communities to prevent mass shootings Stringer, H., Monitor on Psychology , January 2022

When the shooting stops: The impact of gun violence on survivors in America Everytown Research and Policy , 2022

Coping with cascading collective traumas in the United States Silver, R. C., et al., Nature Human Behavior , 2020

Prevention of firearm injuries among children and adolescents Cunningham, R. M., et al., JAMA Pediatrics , 2019

Recommended Reading

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• Gun violence and crime

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How to talk with kids about school shootings and other traumatic events

Many health experts, including psychologists and grief counselors, are reminding people there are resources to support students’ mental and emotional health as they grieve and process.

By Cheyanne Mumphrey | The Associated Press • Published September 6, 2024 • Updated on September 6, 2024 at 1:01 am

The U.S. is dealing with another school shooting: Two students and two teachers were killed Wednesday at a school in Georgia . At least nine other people — eight students and one teacher — were taken to hospitals with injuries.

The effects of a shooting on a community are felt long after the day's tragedy. But a shooting like the most recent one in Winder, Georgia, can have physical, emotional and behavioral effects on all kids.

📺 24/7 Chicago news stream: Watch NBC 5 free wherever you are

Here's how they say families should address traumatic experiences with their kids.

Don't avoid talking about school shootings

It takes time to process emotions, regardless of age, so adults should start by taking care of themselves. That said, experts encourage parents to have conversations with their children and not avoid the topic, if kids indicate a willingness to talk about it.

“If they are not hearing about it from you as their parent, they will hear about it from their friends at school,” says Emilie Ney​​​​, director of professional development at the National Association of School Psychologists.

It's OK for caregivers to say they don’t have all the answers and not force the conversation, according to guidance from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Being available and patient is key.

This isn't just a job for parents and guardians. All adults should remember to be available for the kids in their life. After all, not all children have trusted adults they can speak with, said Crystal Garrant, chief program officer at Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit group that works to prevent suicides and mass shootings.

For instance, she said, adults who work in before-school or after-school programs should ask the kids in their care open-ended questions, do community-building activities or provide kids with other opportunities to share openly. They may not have the opportunity to do so otherwise.

Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter .

How young is too young to discuss shootings?

It depends on the child, but development levels will vary in the way children are able to understand a situation, Ney said.

“There is no specific age target for these conversations,” said Garrant, who has a 9-year-old daughter. “But make sure that younger children understand the word that you’re using. When we say safety, what does it mean to feel safe? How does it feel in your body? What does it sound like when you’re not safe?”

Some children may have emotional and behavioral responses to traumatic events, such as anxiety, nightmares or difficulty concentrating.

Younger children need simple information and reassurances their schools and homes are safe, guidance from the National Association of School Psychologists notes. Older children have a deeper capacity for understanding and could benefit from hearing about what agency they might have to keep themselves safe.

Validate big feelings about school shootings

Recognizing, acknowledging and validating children's emotions are key, said Beverly Warnock, executive director of the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children based in Cincinnati.

“You need to get those feelings out and be honest," she said. "Don’t try to squash the feelings or not talk about it. It’s something that will be with you for the rest of your life.”

The process of navigating emotions after a shooting can be confusing and frustrating for people, Ney said.

“The stages of grief are not necessarily sequential. People may go in and out of the various different phases, and it may be that it doesn’t really hit someone until a week later," Ney said.

Psychologists hope to reassure people their feelings are normal and they don't have to pretend they are unaffected.

“Even if you didn’t know anyone involved, even if they were very far away from you, it is okay to grieve,” Ney said. “It shows that you care about others.”

After acknowledging the emotional response, Warnock said, there is comfort in knowing life goes on.

“You will find a coping skill, and you will be able to enjoy life again,” she said. “You may not feel that way now, but it does happen. It’s just going to take some time."

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If you need more help.

If you or someone you know are experiencing distress because of a mass shooting, you can call the 24/7 National Disaster Distress Helpline. The number is 1-800-985-5990, and Spanish speakers can press “2” for bilingual support. To connect directly to a crisis counselor in American Sign Language, call 1-800-985-5990 from your videophone.

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US school shooting suspect, 14, questioned about threats last year

• Author, Max Matza
• Role, BBC News
• 5 September 2024

A boy accused of killing four people at his high school in Georgia was interviewed last year by police about anonymous online threats, the FBI has said.

Colt Gray, 14, denied to police in May 2023 he was behind internet posts that contained images of guns, warning of a school shooting.

The suspect opened fire on Wednesday at Apalachee High School in the city of Winder, killing two teachers and two pupils, investigators say. Eight students and one teacher were injured.

He was arrested on campus. Gray was charged with four counts of murder on Thursday and will face court on Friday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.

Police have identified the victims as teachers Christina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall and 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo.

In a news conference, Georgia Bureau of Investigation director Chris Hosey said the gun used was an "AR-platform style weapon".

• What we know about the victims
• The numbers behind mass shootings in US
• LISTEN: What's it like for a school principal dealing with a shooting?

The FBI said its National Threat Operations Center had alerted local law enforcement in May 2023 after receiving anonymous tips about "online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time".

The agency said that within 24 hours investigators had determined that the threats originated in Georgia.

Image source, EPA

Sheriff's deputies interviewed the boy and his father, who "stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them", the FBI said.

The suspect, who was 13 years old at the time, denied making the online threats and officials "alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject".

"At the time, there was no probable cause for an arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state or federal levels," added the FBI statement.

Sheriff Jud Smith described the attack as "pure evil" and said officers were on scene within minutes of receiving emergency calls at 10:20 local time (14:20 GMT).

Two officers assigned to the school "immediately encountered the subject" and the boy "immediately surrendered", the sheriff said.

The boy has been interviewed and spoke with investigators once while in custody, Mr Smith said.

He added that no motive had been identified and that law enforcement did not know of "any targets at this point".

Image source, Getty Images

Students described chaotic scenes as alerts went out that an attacker was on campus. Classes at Apalachee began last month, but many students across the US are returning to schools this week.

Lyela Sayarath, who was in the alleged attacker's class, told CNN that the suspect left the room at the beginning of an algebra lesson.

She said he came back and knocked on the door, which had locked automatically, but another student refused to let him in after noticing he had a gun.

Lyela told CNN the attacker then went to the classroom next door, where he began shooting.

Marques Coleman, 14, said he saw the attacker holding a "big gun" just before the shooting began.

"I got up, I started running, he started shooting like, like 10 times. He shot at least 10 times," he told CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

"My teacher started barricading the door with desks," he said.

After standing up, the pupil said he saw "one of my classmates on the ground bleeding so bad", another girl shot in the leg and a friend shot in the stomach.

A vigil was held on Wednesday evening in the city of 18,000 residents about 50 miles (80km) from Atlanta.

This was the 23rd US school shooting of 2024, according to a database maintained by magazine Education Week, which counts 11 dead and 38 injured in such attacks so far this year.

David Riedman, who runs the K-12 School Shooting Database, told Reuters news agency that the shooting in Georgia was the first "planned attack" at a school during this autumn term.

Image source, Reuters

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Victims’ Names Are Released After California Shooting

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This briefing has ended. Follow the latest San Jose shooting updates.

The nine victims were named by authorities.

A transit worker opened fire at a rail yard in San Jose, Calif., early Wednesday, killing nine people, many of them fellow employees, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, which reported that the gunman was also dead.

California law enforcement officials identified the gunman as Samuel James Cassidy, 57, a maintenance worker who had been with the V.T.A. for at least a decade and whose suburban home was in flames as the shooting started.

The attack — which occurred as dispatchers and maintenance workers at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority were preparing for the start of the day’s service — spread turmoil through the sprawling municipal complex near downtown San Jose, the nation’s 10th-largest city and the heart of Silicon Valley.

Buildings were evacuated, and light rail service was gradually shut down as bomb squad teams scoured the area for explosives. Employees who had been working the busy morning shift were led to a separate building, where family members awaited.

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California met with some of them. In an afternoon news conference, he praised sheriff’s deputies for their response to the shooting and lamented yet another American tragedy. “What the hell is wrong with us,” he said, “and when are we going to come to grips with this?”

In a statement, President Biden urged Congress to take action on gun violence and said, “There are at least eight families who will never be whole again. There are children, parents, and spouses who are waiting to hear whether someone they love is ever going to come home. There are union brothers and sisters — good, honest, hardworking people — who are mourning their own.”

The medical examiner’s office in Santa Clara County identified the victims on Wednesday night as Paul Delacruz Megia, 42; Taptejdeep Singh, 36; Adrian Balleza, 29; Jose Dejesus Hernandez III, 35; Timothy Michael Romo, 49; Michael Joseph Rudometkin, 40; Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63; and Lars Kepler Lane, 63.

Late Wednesday night, the medical examiner announced the death of a ninth victim, Alex Ward Fritch, 49, who died at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.

James Kostmayer, a San Jose County employee who works in the building where families were waiting to hear word about their loved ones, said the scene inside was “heartbreaking.”

“You could hear the screams and cries of the families” from the elevator, he said, adding that he heard “a mother screaming, ‘My son, my son.’”

Sgt. Russell Davis, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said that police officers did not exchange gunfire with the gunman, and that they believed he had killed himself. He also said they had no indication about a possible motive.

In an interview, Connie Wang, 58, a former girlfriend of the suspect, said she had not seen or spoken to him in 12 years, but described him as someone who was “not mentally stable.” Mayor Sam Liccardo of San Jose said those who had known the suspect as a co-worker for years also “expressed generalized concerns about his mental health.”

“This is a horrific day for our city,” Mr. Liccardo told reporters. “And it’s a tragic day for the V.T.A. family.”

Glenn Hendricks, the chairman of the authority’s board, noted that the authority’s work force of some 2,100 employees had been essential during the coronavirus pandemic, risking their health to provide bus, rail and paratransit service for commuters in much of the Silicon Valley.

“V.T.A. is a family,” Mr. Hendricks said, his voice shaking. “Everyone in the organization knows everyone.”

The violence was first reported at 6:34 a.m. in a corner of a large complex of municipal buildings. Officers were dispatched from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, which is headquartered next door.

Neil Vigdor contributed reporting.

— Thomas Fuller Christine Hauser Kellen Browning and Shawn Hubler

Gov. Gavin Newsom asks: ‘What the hell is wrong with us?’

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California condemned the “rinse and repeat” cycle of mass shootings in America as he spoke to reporters on Wednesday about the killing of nine people at a rail yard in San Jose .

There have been 68 mass shootings in the United States in the past two months, according to the Gun Violence Archive , which defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are injured or killed.

“It begs the damn question, what the hell is going on in the United States of America?” Mr. Newsom said. “What the hell is wrong with us, and when are we going to come to grips with this?”

Mr. Newsom implored lawmakers to take action, and told all Americans to “take a little damn responsibility, all of us, to do a little bit more and a little bit better this time, and move beyond the platitudes and the usual rhetoric that tends to mark not just these moments but the aftermath of these moments.”

The number of mass shootings declined during much of the coronavirus pandemic, but they have become more frequent since March, when a gunman killed eight people at spas in the Atlanta area . Mr. Newsom called mass shootings a “pre-existing condition” that had once again “reared its ugly head.”

The shooting in San Jose is believed to be the deadliest in the Bay Area since 1993, when a gunman used three semiautomatic pistols to kill eight people at an office building in downtown San Francisco.

— Will Wright

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‘Our hearts are forever broken’: What we know about the shooting victims.

Nine employees of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority were killed in a shooting at the system’s rail yard in San Jose on Wednesday.

The victims of the shooting were identified by the Santa Clara County medical examiner’s office as Paul Delacruz Megia, 42; Taptejdeep Singh, 36; Adrian Balleza, 29; Jose Dejesus Hernandez III, 35; Timothy Michael Romo, 49; Michael Joseph Rudometkin, 40; Alex Ward Fritch, 49; Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63; and Lars Kepler Lane, 63.

Here is what we know about their lives.

Adrian Balleza, 29

Adrian Balleza was described by his wife, Heather Balleza, as a humble and caring individual who was loved by many people. Now, she wrote over a messaging platform on Thursday morning, his family and friends are heartbroken. Mr. Balleza’s 2-year-old son will have to spend his years without a father. “It still doesn’t feel real,” she wrote.

Mr. Balleza started working at the V.T.A. in 2014 as a bus operator trainee, later becoming a maintenance worker and light rail operator, the authority said.

Mr. Balleza could not wait until his son was old enough for them to go fishing together, Ms. Balleza said. She was grief-stricken that her husband would not be able to watch his son grow up. And her own world is no longer whole, she said.

“The world needs more people like my husband, not one less,” she said. “He was my night and day. The best father and husband … my forever angel.”

Naunihal Singh, the superintendent of light rail transportation for V.T.A., was Mr. Balleza’s supervisor. He described Mr. Balleza as a “gem of a person” and a “very kindhearted” man who was always volunteering to help organize fun activities for co-workers.

“Words are not enough to justify the pain we’re all going through,” Mr. Singh told reporters on Thursday. “I’m angry. I’m sad. I’m at a loss for words.”

Lars Kepler Lane, 63

Ed Lane expressed anguish on Wednesday night over the death of his brother Lars Lane, who worked as a journeyman lineman for the V.T.A., according to his LinkedIn profile.

“My brother was murdered today,” Mr. Lane said in an email. “Not by a gun but by a man that could have been helped.”

Mr. Lane spent much of the day waiting to find out if his brother, who local media outlets reported was a husband and a father, was among the victims. He sharply criticized the way the notification process was handled, in addition to the renewed call for tougher gun control laws in the aftermath of another mass shooting.

“I’m tired of the gun control propaganda,” he said. “Politicians and law enforcement patting themselves on the back leaving my family in the dark for 12 hours. The family assistance was absolutely a front of incompetence.”

Jose Dejesus Hernandez III, 35

Jose Dejesus Hernandez III could build and fix anything, said his ex-wife, Sarah Raelyn. They were married for more than 10 years until 2020, and Mr. Hernandez was the most intelligent and sweetest man she had ever known, she said.

Once he even sold all of his musical equipment to buy her a chihuahua named Lylia.

Mr. Hernandez had worked at the V.T.A. since 2012, starting as a transit mechanic, and later becoming an electro-mechanic and a substation mechanic.

He played guitar, built motorcycles and “loved the Lord,” Ms. Raelyn said over a messaging platform. Mr. Hernandez also acted as an older brother and a mentor to Ms. Raelyn’s brother.

“My heart will never fully heal from this tragedy,” she said. “This world lost an amazing man yesterday, but heaven gained one.”

Paul Delacruz Megia, 42

Paul Delacruz Megia immigrated to the United States from the Philippines when he was a toddler, according to his father, Leonard Megia. He had two sons, a daughter and a stepson, and he loved them deeply, his father said.

They liked to take a boat out and go wakeboarding during the summer, his father said, and in the winter, snowboarding was their favorite activity.

Mr. Megia had planned a trip to Disneyland with his children. They were scheduled to leave on Thursday.

“He was a wonderful dad,” his father said. “He’s my son and my best friend.”

Mr. Megia and his father lived in the same home together near Tracy, Calif., along with his three children. The father and son were very close — they enjoyed fishing and spending time in the snow together during the winter. Mr. Megia was always smiling, his father said, and constantly had a positive demeanor.

The V.T.A. said Mr. Megia had been employed there for 20 years, working his way up from bus operator trainee to superintendent-service management. Mr. Megia left home every morning at 4:30 a.m. to get to work on time, but made sure to call his children every single morning to check in on them before they started school.

“He’s a very loving dad who cared a lot about his children,” his father said. “They’re going to miss him.”

Mr. Singh, the superintendent of light rail transportation for the V.T.A., shared an office with Mr. Megia. He described Mr. Megia as an easygoing manager who was popular with employees.

“Sometimes my demands could be unreasonable, but Paul always accepted it with a smile. He always was willing to help his employees,” Mr. Singh said. “They seemed to reach out to him for whatever their needs were.”

Taptejdeep Singh, 36

Taptejdeep Singh, a light rail operator for the V.T.A., was remembered by a cousin as the nicest person in his family and a gregarious man who enjoyed playing volleyball.

“We are very sad right now,” said the cousin, Bagga Singh, who was one of more than a dozen family members waiting all Wednesday to learn what had happened to their relative. Shortly after 6 p.m., they got the bad news. Several family members broke down sobbing at a Red Cross facility and were escorted away.

The death of Mr. Singh, who was Sikh and moved to the United States from India in 2005, marks the second time in two months that members of the country’s Sikh community mourned after a mass shooting. In April, four Sikhs were among the eight people killed in a shooting at a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis.

Taptejdeep Singh had a wife and two young children, Bagga Singh said, and enjoyed his job at the V.T.A., where he had been working for eight or nine years. He also had an insurance license and was a real estate agent, Bagga Singh said.

“He can work anything he wants, very smart guy,” he said.

Family members said county officials told them that Taptejdeep Singh acted heroically when he detected danger during the attack, calling out to his co-workers that shots were being fired and quickly ushering one woman into a secure room.

“I think he’s the one who tried to save the people, as many as he could,” said Bagga Singh, who also spoke out against gun violence: “Nobody should have a gun.”

Michael Joseph Rudometkin, 40

Michael Joseph Rudometkin began working for the V.T.A. in 2013 as a transit mechanic, according to the agency. He then became an electro-mechanic and an overhead line worker.

Raul Peralez, a member of the San Jose City Council, called Mr. Rudometkin a “lifelong friend.” He said that he and his father had been planning a golf outing with Mr. Rudometkin.

“Now that will never happen again,” Mr. Peralez said on Facebook. “My family and I have lost a long time great friend and there are no words to describe the heartache we are feeling right now, especially for his family.”

Mr. Rudometkin was married and is survived by his parents and his sister, said Mr. Peralez, who told reporters on Thursday that he had met with Mr. Rudometkin’s wife, parents, sister and brother-in-law.

“I truly feel for all the victims’ families,” he said. “Personally, my heart is broken.”

Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63

Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, an immigrant from Iran, was a substation maintainer who worked at the transit agency for about two decades.

A family friend called him “like a second father of my own.”

“He moved his family to the United States so that they could have a better life, which makes this horrific tragedy just all the worse,” said Megan Staker, whose boyfriend, Soheil, is Mr. Alaghmandan’s son.

“He worked so hard so that his family could have a good life,” she said. “He was so funny, and kind and loving, and could fix anything. Things will never be the same without him. He brought so much joy and laughter to our lives. To say he will be missed is an understatement. Our hearts are forever broken.”

Alex Ward Fritch, 49

Mr. Fritch started at the transit agency in 2012 as a mechanic and had worked most recently as a substation maintainer. He was the only one of the nine victims who died with his family by his side, at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.

“He was our rock, my safe place to fall,” his wife, Tessa Fritch, told KTVU-TV . “He was the love of my life.”

The couple had been married for 20 years, Ms. Fritch said, and they planned to renew their vows in Hawaii in September. They had two teenage boys and a 30-year-old daughter.

Ms. Fritch told the station that their daughter came from San Diego to see him, as did his parents and friends. “We got to say goodbyes,” she said.

Timothy Michael Romo, 49

Timothy Romo began working for the transit agency over 20 years ago, and was last employed as an overhead line worker.

A native of Greenfield, Calif., Mr. Romo was the son of Mike Romo, a former police chief and mayor of Greenfield. He is survived by two sisters, two brothers and his parents, as well as his wife, children and grandchildren, the city’s current mayor, Lance Walker, said on Facebook .

Mr. Romo “touched the lives of anyone that knew him through his big smile and endless jokes,” according to a memorial fund set up for his family. “He will forever live in our hearts and be remembered as the funny, caring, selfless man that he was.”

A neighbor of Mr. Romo told The San Francisco Chronicle that he had been planning a vacation with his wife, hoping to visit their son, in the days before the shooting.

“He was a very friendly man, always ready to help you out,” said one neighbor, Nancy Martin.

— Kellen Browning Neil Vigdor Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio Maria Cramer Adeel Hassan and Will Wright

People who knew the suspect say he had a hostile personality.

The man identified by California law enforcement officials as the gunman in a mass shooting at a San Jose rail yard on Wednesday lived alone and had a hostile personality, according to interviews with a neighbor and an ex-girlfriend, as well as a review of court records.

The gunman, Samuel James Cassidy, 57, lived southeast of downtown San Jose, in a suburban neighborhood of cul-de-sacs and palm trees, public records show. Doug Suh, a real estate agent who lived across the street, described Mr. Cassidy, who authorities say appeared to have killed himself, as someone with a short temper.

“I was afraid of him,” Mr. Suh said. “My wife was scared of him, too.”

“He lived alone,” Mr. Suh said. “I never saw any friends or family. I never saw anyone else going into the house.”

Mr. Suh recalled Mr. Cassidy once lashing out at him when Mr. Suh turned his car around in Mr. Cassidy’s driveway. “He yelled, ‘Do not come onto my driveway.’”

Family court records show that Mr. Cassidy was married for 10 years before divorcing in 2004. The couple had no children.

In 2009, Mr. Cassidy sought a restraining order against his former girlfriend, Jingkun Wang, known as Connie. In court filings, he accused her of vandalizing his roommate’s car, calling at late hours of the night, hurling insults and suggesting she had him under surveillance.

Ms. Wang countered that Mr. Cassidy, whom she had dated for a year, had “major mood swings due to bipolar disorder” which were exacerbated when he consumed large quantities of alcohol. She also accused him of forcing himself on her sexually.

Their relationship failed when he told her around February 2009 that a female houseguest had moved in, and that she should no longer come visit.

She denied vandalizing any vehicles, and accused him of stealing items from restaurants and employers, and failing to return her television and computer printer.

“He has manipulated me in many ways which are apparent to my friends and family,” she said.

The court ordered Ms. Wang to stay at least 300 yards from him, his parents and his new girlfriend for three years.

In a phone interview on Wednesday, Ms. Wang, now 58, said she had not spoken to Mr. Cassidy in 12 years, but described him as someone who was “not mentally stable,” who would be loving one moment and mean the next. She also described his drinking as excessive.

They met on Match.com, Ms. Wang said. Two months into their relationship, he told her to pick a diamond ring and he would buy it, she recalled. She declined.

After they broke up, Mr. Cassidy showed up at her apartment complex one day, Ms. Wang said. A neighbor let him in and he took her brand-new Toyota Camry, for which he had a key, without permission. He returned it damaged from what he told her was an accident, she said.

— Patricia Mazzei Frances Robles and Thomas Fuller

The gunman’s home was ablaze during the attack.

Andy and Alice Abad were in their kitchen Wednesday morning in southeastern San Jose when they saw a funnel of smoke pouring out of a neighbor’s home, a one-story gray house with white trim and a patchy lawn.

Mr. Abad called 911 and was told that firefighters were already on the way. “The flames were above the rooftop,” Mr. Abad said.

He took a picture of the house with his cellphone and headed out with his wife to a doctor’s appointment. When he returned home at noon, the neighborhood was swarming with fire and police vehicles, federal agents and a boxy blue truck from the San Jose bomb squad.

“What’s going on here?” Mr. Abad said as he stepped out of his car in his driveway.

The mayor of San Jose, Sam Liccardo, described a “strange connection” between the fire in the house and the attack on a rail yard near downtown that left nine people dead, including the gunman. The site of the shooting is eight miles away from the home, a 10- or 15-minute drive.

Men with gas masks and oxygen tanks stood amid the flashing lights of emergency vehicles that penetrated into the cul-de-sacs of what is described by residents as a quiet suburban neighborhood populated largely by Vietnamese and Filipino immigrants. (The neighborhood is near Evergreen, not in it, as an earlier post said.)

Members of the bomb squad walked past citrus and palm trees to enter the home as other law enforcement officers carried shovels and other garden implements into the property. The home on Wednesday afternoon was largely intact, but the crown of the roof was darkened by fire.

— Thomas Fuller

A ‘heartbreaking’ scene as families await news of loved ones.

Families of Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority employees were directed to wait for news at a county building close to the rail yard.

Jazmin Diaz arrived to find out if her brother, Max, who works for the authority, was OK. He doesn’t work at the part of the rail yard where the shooting occurred, she said, but had not answered his phone all morning.

“I hope he’s good,” she said, pausing to take a phone call from a family member. “We believe that God protected him.”

One man, who would not provide his name, arrived at the county building with his grandfather. He was hoping for news of his uncle, a light rail operator who he has not heard from all morning.

“I never thought something like this would really happen,” the man said, before entering the building. “He has two little kids — that’s all I can think about right now.”

Brandi Childress, a spokeswoman for the V.T.A., said she was informed at 6:45 a.m. local time that there was an “active shooter event.” Employees were on the job at that time, she said.

“It is where we have dispatchers and maintenance,” she said. “They get up early and they are there. That is why the focus is on containing and evacuating employees. It is where we store and maintain all of our trains.”

At about 1 p.m., at least 10 family groups emerged from the side of the county building, where Gov. Gavin Newsom of California stood in the doorway. Some, including a pair of women with their arms wrapped around a third woman, were escorted by security officers into a waiting bus.

Loirena Ruico, who drove the bus to the nearby American Red Cross building, said the ride was somber. “It’s scary, it’s so tense — everyone’s crying,” she said.

Outside the Red Cross center, Christina Gonzalez choked back tears as she waited for news of her cousin Michael Rudometkin. She said she left work and rushed to the center after her brother told her that Mr. Rudometkin was among the people who were shot.

She said she had yet to learn anything about her cousin’s condition or where he was. “I’m just waiting and praying, and hoping he’s OK,” Ms. Gonzalez said.

She said Mr. Rudometkin, who lives in Santa Cruz, was at a union meeting in the morning. “Very proud, loved his job and just always stood up for everyone’s rights,” she said of her cousin. “He is just a very good person, so we’re really hoping this isn’t the place to tell us the bad news.”

By Wednesday evening, the county medical examiner’s office had released the names of the victims, including Mr. Rudometkin, 40.

— Kellen Browning

The rail service targeted in the shooting serves Silicon Valley commuters.

As dispatchers and maintenance workers at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s light rail yard were preparing for the start of the day’s service, gunshots threw the sprawling municipal complex near downtown San Jose into turmoil.

Glenn Hendricks, the authority chairman, called the incident “a horrible tragedy” for its work force of some 2,100 mostly unionized employees, who provide bus, rail and paratransit service for commuters in much of Silicon Valley.

“V.T.A. is a family,” Mr. Hendricks said, his voice quaking. “Everyone in the organization knows everyone.”

Transit service continued for several hours after the shooting without disruption, even as the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office — which is headquartered next door to the rail yard as part of a sprawling municipal complex near downtown San Jose — dispatched deputies to the scene of the shooting in a maintenance yard.

“As I drove here,” Mr. Hendricks said, citing the dedication of the authority employees, “I saw buses on the road.”

But service on the light-rail system’s three lines was later shut down as the maintenance facility became the scene of an active investigation. Mr. Hendricks said extra buses would be dispatched to cover for the canceled trains.

He added that grief counseling would be made available to workers, including the 100 or so who were on the scene when the shooting erupted. Sgt. Russell Davis, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said several of the people who were killed were V.T.A. employees, as was the gunman.

“This is a horrific day for our city,” said the mayor of San Jose, Sam Liccardo, who also serves on the V.T.A. board. “And a tragic day for the V.T.A. family.”

— Shawn Hubler

Here is a partial list of mass shootings this year.

The Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one with four or more people injured or killed, not including the perpetrator, counted at least 232 mass shootings as of May 26. (The archive, a nonprofit organization, has counted 15 mass murders , which it defines as four or more people killed, in 2021.)

There is little consensus on the definition of a mass shooting, complicating the efforts of nonprofits and news organizations to document the scope of the problem.

The Violence Project follows the narrow definition of the Congressional Research Service, requiring the attacks to be in public and excluding domestic shootings and those “attributable to underlying criminal activity.” CNN has defined a mass shooting as one with four or more injuries or deaths. The Washington Post ’s effort to track public mass shootings includes shootings with four or more people killed, but does not include robberies or domestic shootings in private homes.

This year they have included shootings in Atlanta . Indianapolis . Boulder, Colo . Boone, N.C. And now San Jose.

To some, it might have seemed as if mass shootings all but halted during the coronavirus pandemic, with a year passing between large-scale shootings in public places. But the shootings never stopped. They just weren’t as public.

The Gun Violence Archive counted more than 600 such shootings in 2020, compared with 417 in 2019.

— Derrick Bryson Taylor and Daniel Victor

Wisconsin college wrestler accused of fatally shooting title-winning school gymnast

by JACKSON WALKER | The National Desk

WHITEWATER, Wis. (TND) — A University of Wisconsin-Whitewater wrestler is accused of killing a fellow student-athlete after the two allegedly engaged in an altercation, police confirmed to The National Desk (TND) Tuesday.

Kara Welsh, 21, died in a shooting at her off-campus apartment last week, according to a release from University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Chancellor Corey King. She was majoring in management and had won an individual national title as a member of the school’s women's gymnastics team.

“We know the news of Kara’s death is heartbreaking for our close-knit university community,” King wrote. “It is a time when we are all called upon to support one another, to process, and to grieve.”

The chancellor ordered campus flags to fly at half-staff on Tuesday, the first day of the new academic year.

Officers told TND they arrived at Welsh’s apartment Friday after receiving reports of an individual with a gunshot would. Welsh, officers said, was found dead at the scene with “multiple gunshot wounds.”

Present in the apartment upon the officers’ arrival was Chad Richards, who is listed as a member of the school’s 2021-22 wrestling team. Responders determined the two had engaged in an altercation and arrested Richards, who faces charges of first-degree intentional homicide, endangered safety by use of dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct while armed.

Richards appeared for a hearing at the Walworth County Courthouse Tuesday, where a judge set his bail at $1 million, according to TMJ4.

A GoFundMe page organized for Welsh's family has earned nearly $40,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.

“We are completely heartbroken for our beloved Welsh family - Nancy, Tom, and Kaeli as they navigate this incredibly difficult time,” the page reads. “They will surely have so much to endure in the near future and we would like to help ease the financial burden during this period of grief, planning and travel that will surely be necessary.”

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's gymnastics coach Jen Regan honored Welsh in a press release on the tragedy.

"To put into words the impact Kara had on the Warhawk community is impossible," Regan said. "A powerful athlete, dedicated teammate, and the light in everyone's dark days, Kara truly lifted each and every one of us up in her time as a Warhawk gymnast. There are no words to describe the void we all feel in our hearts, but Kara's legacy will live on through Warhawk gymnastics forever."

Follow Jackson Walker on X at @_jlwalker_ for the latest trending national news. Have a news tip? Send it to [email protected].