It has been 25 years since the Columbine High School massacre, which marked the beginning of the modern era of school shootings in the United States. Since then, at least 493 people have been killed with guns on school property, with 138 of those deaths occurring in active shooter incidents on school grounds. However, determining the exact number of school shootings since Columbine is complex and depends on the definition used, with figures ranging from 8 to over 2,000 incidents. The K-12 School Shooting Database includes any incident involving a gun at a school, resulting in at least 2,032 shootings since Columbine, with a significant increase in incidents recorded in recent years.
When filtering the data to only account for incidents where one or more victims have been shot, the number of school shootings since Columbine decreases to 1,143, with at least 133 of these incidents involving an active shooter. Excluding incidents where at least four people have been shot, there have been 59 mass shootings at schools, representing a small percentage of the total number of shootings. Despite the rarity of mass shootings, there has been a noticeable upward trend in school shooting incidents in recent years, with 95 incidents recorded so far in 2024 and a record high of 348 incidents in the previous year.
While rampage attacks like Columbine remain rare, the fear among parents for their children’s safety at school has been on the rise. Research indicates that school shootings with mass deaths are statistically rare forms of crime, with schools still considered among the safest places for children in terms of gun violence. However, increased news coverage of school shootings and those with higher death tolls has contributed to heightened fears among parents. There have been efforts to prevent school shootings, with experts emphasizing the importance of identifying warning signs and communicating potential threats to prevent attacks.
Polling has indicated that many Americans lack confidence in the country’s ability to eliminate gun violence, with more than half of respondents expressing doubts about the possibility of reducing the rate of gun violence to zero. Experts emphasize the need for individuals to come forward with information about potential threats and for improved communication and intervention strategies to prevent school shootings. Despite the challenges in accurately accounting for the number of school shootings since Columbine, efforts are ongoing to address and prevent gun violence in schools, with a focus on understanding warning signs and improving information sharing to thwart potential attacks.
