145 School Shootings In US Since 1997 | United States

The Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence recently published an updated report entitled “Major School Shootings in the United States Since 1997.” The report lists approximately 145 separate incidents of school shootings in the United States since January of 1997 through September of 2009, 64 of which resulted in death. A total of 160 people have been killed in these school shootings. 136 of the deaths were homicides, while 23 were suicides or murder-suicides. More than 80 of the individuals who died were children and teenagers under the age of 19. The gunman and victim(s) in a handful of these shootings were adults on school grounds rather than youth targeting their peers.

There have been 5 school shootings since 1997 that resulted in five or more deaths each: Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA; West Nickel Mines School in Nickel Mines, PA, also known as the Amish school shooting; Red Lake High School in Red Lake, MN; Columbine High School in Littleton, CO; and Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, AR. Among these were the two most infamous school massacres in the history of the United States: Columbine and Virginia Tech. The Virginia Tech massacre, which resulted in 32 deaths including the perpetrator’s, is “worst single act of gun violence in American history” (Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence 2009, 8). These five most deadly shootings combined total 68 fatalities, including 3 suicides.

School shootings happened most often in Chicago, IL, which had 3 incidents in the past 13 years resultant in 2 killings. However, when considering states rather than particular cities, more school shootings took place in California, 13, than in any other state; Pennsylvania followed closely with 11. The shootings amounted to 6 and 12 fatalities in California and Pennsylvania, respectively.

Read the full report from the Brady Campaign here.