School shooting
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A school shooting is an incident in which gun violence occurs at an educational institution.
Definition
The term school shooting most commonly describes acts committed by either a student or intruders from outside the school campus. They are to be distinguished from crowd-containment shootings by law-enforcement personnel, such as the shootings at Kent State and Jackson State in the United States, or the October 6, 1976 Massacre in Thailand. They are also differentiated from other kinds of school violence, such as the mass killings of the Bath School disaster (which involved a homemade bomb rather than shooting), the Cologne school massacre (which involved a flamethrower); or terror attacks involving multiple kinds of weapons, such as the Ma'alot massacre, or the Beslan school hostage crisis in which at least 334 hostages were killed, including 186 children.
One of the most prominent school shootings was that at Columbine High School, near Littleton, Colorado. On Tuesday, April 20, 1999, students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered thirteen people(twelve students and one teacher) on the school campus before they committed suicide, for a total of fifteen deaths. 24 others were wounded.
In the United States, one-on-one public-school violence, such as beatings and stabbings or gang related violence, is more common in some densely-populated areas. Inner-city or urban schools were much more likely than other schools to report serious violent crimes, with 17 percent of city principals reporting at least one serious crime compared to 11 percent of urban schools, 10 percent of rural schools, and five percent of suburban schools in the 1997 school year.[1] However school shootings in other countries may take on more national or religious overtones, such as the Mercaz HaRav massacre.
Profiling
School shooting is a topic of intense interest in the United States.[2] Though companies like MOSAIC Threat Assessment Systems sell products and services designed to identify potential threats, a thorough study of all United States school shootings by the U.S. Secret Service[3] warned against the belief that a certain "type" of student would be a perpetrator. Any profile would fit too many students to be useful and may not apply to a potential perpetrator. Some lived with both parents in "an ideal, All-American family." Some were children of divorce, or lived in foster homes. A few were loners, but most had close friends. Some experts such as Alan Lipman have warned against the dearth of empirical validity of profiling methods.
While it may be simplistic to assume a straightforward "profile", the study did find certain similarities among the perpetrators. "The researchers found that killers do not 'snap'. They plan. They acquire weapons. These children take a long, considered, public path toward violence."[4] Princeton's Katherine Newman has found that, far from being "loners", the perpetrators are "joiners" whose attempts at social integration fail, and that they let their thinking and even their plans be known, sometimes frequently over long periods of time.
Many of the shooters told Secret Service investigators that alienation or persecution drove them to violence. According to the United States Secret Service, (see Fein, R.A., Vossekuil, B., Pollack, W., Borum, R., Reddy, M.,& Modzeleski, W. Threat assessment in schools: A guide to managing threatening situations and creating safe school climates. U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Secret Service, May, 2002 for the research and the recommendations therefrom), instead of looking for traits, the Secret Service urges adults to ask about behavior:
1. What has this child said?
2. Do they have grievances?
3. What do their friends know?
4. Do they have access to weapons?
One "trait" that has not yet attracted as much attention is the gender difference: nearly all school shootings are perpetrated by young males, and in some instances the violence has clearly been gender-specific. Bob Herbert addressed this in an October 2006 New York Times editorial.[6] Only two female school shooting incidents have been documented.[7][8]
School shootings receive extensive media coverage and are infrequent.[9] They have sometimes resulted in nationwide changes of schools' policies concerning discipline and security. Some experts have described fears about school shootings as a type of moral panic.[10]
Such incidents may also lead to nationwide discussion on gun laws.[11]
Notable school shootings
 |
North America
United States
^1 not a "school shooting" in the contemporary senseCanada
| Name | Location | Date | Year | Death toll | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altona schoolhouse shooting | Altona, Manitoba, Canada | October 10 | 1902 | 2 | [34] |
| Centennial Secondary School shooting | Brampton, Ontario Canada | May 28 | 1975 | 2 | [35] |
| St Pius X High School School | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | October 27 | 1975 | 1 | [36] |
| École Polytechnique Massacre | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | December 6 | 1989 | 14 | [37] |
| Concordia University massacre | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | August 24 | 1992 | 4 | [38] |
| W. R. Myers High School shooting | Taber, Alberta, Canada | April 28 | 1999 | 1 | [39] |
| Dawson College shooting | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | September 13 | 2006 | 1 | |
| C. W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute shooting | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | May 23 | 2007 | 1 | |
| Bendale Business and Technical Institute shooting | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | September 16 | 2008 | 0 | [42] |
| Central Technical School shooting | Toronto, Ontario Canada, | September 30 | 2010 | 0 | [43] |
Europe
South America, Asia and Australia
| Name | Location | Date/Year | Death toll | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanaa massacre | Sana'a, Yemen | March 30, 1997 | 6 | [58] |
| University of the Philippines shooting | Quezon City, Philippines | February 19, 1999 | 1 | [59] |
| La Trobe University shooting | Melbourne, Australia | August 3, 1999 | 1 | |
| Monash University shooting | Melbourne, Australia | October 21, 2002 | 2 | [60] |
| Pak Phanang school shooting | Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand | June 6, 2003 | 2 | [61] |
| Islas Malvinas School shooting | Carmen de Patagones, Argentina | September 28, 2004 | 4 | [62] |
| Beirut Arab University shooting | Beirut, Lebanon | January 25, 2007 | 4 | [63] |
| Euro International school shooting | Gurgaon, India | December 12, 2007 | 1 | [64] |
| Mercaz HaRav shooting | Jerusalem, Israel | March 6, 2008 | 9 | [65] |
| Azerbaijan State Oil Academy shooting | Baku, Azerbaijan | April 30, 2009 | 13 | [66] |
| Realengo massacre | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | April 7, 2011 | 13 | [67] |
Impact
Political impact
School shootings have had a political impact, spurring some to press for more stringent gun control laws. The National Rifle Association is opposed to such laws, and some groups have called for fewer gun control laws, citing cases of armed students ending shootings and halting further loss of life, and claiming that the prohibitions against carrying a gun in schools does not deter the gunmen.[68] One such example is the Mercaz HaRav Massacre, where the attacker was not stopped by police but rather a student, Yitzhak Dadon, who stopped the attacker by shooting him with his personal firearm which he lawfully carried concealed. At a Virginia law school, there is a disputed claim that two students retrieved pistols from their cars and stopped the attacker without firing a shot. Also, at a Mississippi high school, the Vice Principal retrieved a firearm from his vehicle and then eventually stopped the attacker as he was driving away from the school. In other cases, such as shootings at Columbine and Red Lake High Schools, the presence of an armed police officer did nothing to prevent or shorten the shootings.
A ban on the ownership of handguns was introduced in the United Kingdom (with the exception of Northern Ireland) following the Dunblane massacre.[69]
Armed classrooms
For years, some areas in the US have allowed "armed classrooms" to deter (or truncate) future attacks, presumably by changing helpless victims into armed defenders. In 2008, Harrold Independent School District in Texas became the first public school district in the U.S. to allow teachers with state-issued firearm-carry permits to carry their arms in the classroom; special additional training and ricochet-resistant ammunition were required for participating teachers.[70] Students at the University of Utah have been allowed to carry concealed pistols (so long as they possess the appropriate state license) since a State Supreme Court decision in 2006.[71][72]
A commentary in the conservative National Review Online argues that the armed school approach for preventing school attacks, while new in the US, has been used successfully for many years in Israel and Thailand.[73] Teachers and school officials in Israel are allowed and encouraged to carry firearms if they have former military experience in the IDF, which almost all do. Statistics on what percentage of teachers are actually armed is unavailable however.
See also
- List of school-related attacks
- School violence
- Bullying
- School bullying
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
- Chencholai bombing, Sri Lanka
- Counter-terrorism
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Incendiary device
- Mass murder
- Nagerkovil school bombing, Sri Lanka
- Social rejection
- Suicide bombing
- SWAT
- Terrorism
- Youth subculture
References
- ^ National Center for Education Statistics' Violence and Discipline Problems in U.S. Public Schools, 1996-97.
- ^ "'Profiling' School Shooters". Frontline. March 17, 2007. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
{{cite news}}:|first=missing|last=(help) - ^ "The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative" (PDF). May 1, 2002.
- ^ PBS article on murder profiles
- ^ Bill Dedman, Deadly Lessons: School Shooters Tell Why, description of Secret Service study. (October 15, 2000) Chicago Sun-Times. Accessed April 8, 2006
- ^ Herbert, Bob (October 16, 2006). The New York Times http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/16/opinion/16herbert.html?_r=1&n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fColumnists%2fBob%20Herbert&oref=slogin.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) [dead link] - ^ "Police: Female student kills 2 others, self at Louisiana college - CNN.com". February 8, 2008. [dead link]
- ^ "Parole Denied to Female School Shooter". San Diego 6. 13. AUG 2009. Retrieved 16. OCT 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ CNN (March 25, 1998). School shootings have high profile but occur infrequently.
- ^ Killingbeck, Donna. The Role of Television News in the Construction of School Violence as a 'Moral Panic." Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 8(3) (2001) 186-202
- ^ "Government Vows to Take Action Following Kauhajoki Shootings". YLE. Retrieved September 23, 2008.
- ^ http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?s=5324836
- ^ The victim, Stephen Cobb, was shot by Brian Patrick Martin when an argument about a potential drug deal that went bad. http://www.uncg.edu/ure/news/stories/2007/March/UNCGUNCGInvestigatingShootingatResidenceHall.032507.htm
- ^ THOMAS WATKINS (May 1, 2009). "SoCal Students plan shooting". Associated Press. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 1, 2009. [dead link]
- ^ Justin Cosby, 21, was shot sometime before 5 p.m. Monday in J-Entry of Kirkland House. The Harvard University Police responded at approximately 4:48 p.m., and Cosby was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center ,where he died http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2009/5/20/justin-cosby-21-dies-after-shooting/
- ^ Sophomore Jasmine Lynn was shot around 12:30 a.m. Thursday September 3, 2009 on James P. Brawley Drive in the Atlanta University Center, according to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office. http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/students-question-campus-safety-130043.html
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/05/AR2010020503272.html.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) [dead link] - ^ The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/02/12/us/AP-US-AlaUniversityShoo.html?src=twt&twt=nytimes.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) [dead link] - ^ http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-school-shooting-022310,0,7616995.story
- ^ http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-02-27/ap-stories/wash-teacher-killed-outside-school-before-classes
- ^ http://president.osu.edu/speeches/campus_shooting_statement.php
- ^ http://www.stlpd.com/bellevilleshootings
- ^ Hayes, Kevin (September 28, 2010). "University of Texas Shooting: Shots Fired on UT Campus, One Gunman Dead, Second Possible Suspect Sought". CBS News.
- ^ "Student Dies From Gun Shots at Alisal High School". Kion Right Now. October 2, 2010. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
- ^ "Teen Shot At Alisal High School". MSNBC. October 2, 2010. Retrieved October 2, 2010. [dead link]
- ^ http://hamptonroads.com/2010/10/elizabeth-city-university-identifies-student-slain-campus?cid=ltst
- ^ Los Angeles Times http://mobile.latimes.com/wap/news/text.jsp?sid=294&nid=24350854&cid=16680&scid=-1&ith=2&title=L.A.+NOW.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "School shooting suspect got 'street justice,' witness says [Updated]". Los Angeles Times. October 8, 2010.
- ^ http://ehextra.com/main.asp?SectionID=12&SubSectionID=35&ArticleID=9048
- ^ http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/01/06/nebraska.school.shooting/index.html?hpt=T2 The Vice-Principal died and the Principal is currently in serious but stable condition. The gunman also died by his own hands.
- ^ "1 shot at Indiana middle school". CNN. March 26, 2011.
- ^ http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7498506.html
- ^ www.cnn.com/2011/US/04/19/texas.school.gun.accident/
- ^ Schoolmaster kills pupils, The New York Times (October 9, 1902)
- ^ The Brampton Centennial Secondary School massacre was a school shooting, which occurred at Brampton Centennial Secondary School in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. 16-year old gunman Michael Slobodian shot and killed a fellow student, a teacher and injured 13 other students before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide in a school hallway. It was the first school shooting in Canada. Slobodian is the first recorded high-school killer in the country
- ^ The St. Pius X High School shooting was a school shooting that occurred on October 27, 1975, at St. Pius X High School in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Robert Poulin, an 18-year-old St. Pius student, opened fire on his classmates with a shotgun killing one and wounding five before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide. Poulin had raped and stabbed his 17-year-old friend Kim Rabot to death prior to the incident. A book entitled Rape of a Normal Mind was written about the incident.
- ^ The École Polytechnique Massacre, also known as the Montreal Massacre, occurred on December 6, 1989, at the École Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Twenty-five year-old Marc Lépine, armed with a legally obtained semi-automatic rifle and a hunting knife, shot twenty-eight people, killing fourteen (all of them women) and injuring the other fourteen before killing himself.
- ^ The Concordia University massacre was a school shooting on August 24, 1992, that resulted in the deaths of four people at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The shooter was Dr. Valery Fabrikant, a former Associate Professor of mechanical engineering at Concordia and a colleague of the slain men.
- ^ The W. R. Myers High School shooting occurred on April 28, 1999, at W. R. Myers High School in Taber, Alberta, Canada, when a 14-year-old walked into his school and randomly shot at three students, killing Jason Lang and injuring another. One dead, one wounded in Alberta school shooting, cbc.ca, November 10, 1999. This shooting took place only eight days after the Columbine High School Massacre, and is widely believed to have been a copycat crime.
- ^ The Dawson College shooting occurred on September 13, 2006, at Dawson College, a CEGEP in Westmount near downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The perpetrator, Kimveer Gill, began shooting outside the de Maisonneuve Boulevard entrance to the school, and moved towards the atrium by the cafeteria on the main floor. "The Montreal Killer Was a Death-Obsessed Goth". Toronto Daily News. September 14, 2006. Retrieved September 15, 2006. "Two gunmen open fire at Dawson College". The Gazette. September 13, 2006. Retrieved September 13, 2006. One victim died at the scene, while another 19 were injured, eight of whom were listed in critical condition with six requiring surgery. "Press Release". Service de police de la ville de Montréal. September 13, 2006. "UPDATE 7-Gunman kills one, wounds 19 at Montreal college". Reuters. September 13, 2006. Retrieved September 14, 2006. "Woman, gunman dead in Montreal school rampage". CBC News. September 13, 2006. Retrieved September 13, 2006. The shooter later committed suicide by shooting himself in the head, after being shot in the arm by police. "Montreal gunman killed himself: autopsy". CBC. September 14, 2006. Retrieved September 15, 2006.
- ^ Two 17-year-old Canadian citizens, whom the media can not identify under the provisions of Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act, were arrested on May 27, 2007, and charged with the first-degree murder of a 15-year old student at the C. W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute. Prior to one of the arrests, police had taken the unusual step of obtaining a judicial order to publish one suspect's name and photograph as he was considered armed and dangerous. Media reported his identity and photo, then had to take the stories off their websites after he was arrested hours later.
- ^ A 16 year old boy was shot in the chest in the school's parking lot following an altercation involving several people. No name has yet been released. On September 17, 2008, Toronto Police announced it had made 2 arrests of these shooting suspects; 18-year-old Mark Deicsics, has been charged with robbery while armed with a firearm and fail to comply with recognizance and the victim of the shooting and 16-year-old teen, has been charged with robbery while armed with a firearm. His name cannot be released under the limitation's in Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act.
- ^ At around 1:00 PM EST there was a confrontation between 4 students, at least one gun shot was fired from a semi-automatic pistol. The school was placed under lockdown until 4:45 PM EST. Two suspects were apprehended by the Toronto Police Service but were not charged, one fled and was sought as a suspect until 7:30 PM EST when he was taken into custody. It was discovered he was a victim. One teen is currently remains to be apprehended, fortunately no one was seriously hurt or killed.
- ^ Two students were fatally shot by a 14-year old student at the Raumanmeri secondary school. The shooter had claimed to be a victim of bullying.
- ^ The Times, March 6, 1991, "Teacher shot in classroom attack."
- ^ University student shoots and kills three and wounds two others before taking his own life.
- ^ The Dunblane massacre was a multiple murder-suicide which occurred at Dunblane Primary School in the Scottish town of Dunblane on March 13, 1996. Sixteen children and one adult were killed, in addition to the attacker, who committed suicide. It remains the deadliest attack on children in United Kingdom history.
- ^ The Erfurt massacre was a school shooting that occurred on April 26, 2002, at the Johann Gutenberg Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany. Sixteen people were killed before the perpetrator committed suicide. The victims comprised 13 school staff (12 teachers and one administrator), two students and one police officer. In addition, seven people were injured.
- ^ 16 year-old student shoots two of his teachers before taking his own life.
- ^ Principal (H. van Wieren) shot in the head by a student .
- ^ After being ordered to leave the classroom a 14 year old student returns with a gun threatening the life of the 35 year old class teacher. During a struggle the weapon is fired, the weapon is removed from the student. Investigators' findings state that the student did not intend to kill the teacher, but himself. No one was injured.
- ^ Bastian Bosse, an 18-year old male, and former student, had fired shots with a front loader and a sawed-off shotgun on campus, threw a molotow cocktail outside the school, and lid a pipe bomb upon arrival of the police. The incident ended with 37 people injured, including 19 students (three girls and a boys suffered gun shot wounds), one teachers, 16 police officers (most suffering from smoke inhalation), and the custodian who was shot in the abdomen inside the school. The shooter took his own life. A total of 13 pipe/smoke bombs and four shot guns where found (five smoke bombs in a backpack near the body of the student, four in the car, three where strapped to the body, one was set off by police while on school grounds).
- ^ The incident resulted in the deaths of nine people: five male students (ages 16-18) and one female adult student (age 25) the school principal, Helena Kalmi (age 61); the school nurse (age 43); and the gunman, Auvinen, himself, who was also one of the school's students. One other person suffered gunshot wounds, and eleven people were injured by shattering glass while escaping from the school building. The day before the incident, Auvinen posted a video on YouTube predicting the massacre at the school.
- ^ -
- ^ Former 17 year old student kills 16, injuring nine others.
- ^ Nine year old pupil fires shotgun in schoolyard; nobody is injured.
- ^ 23 year-old student entered the building of the university's biophysics research institute and opened fire in the classroom.One man died in the shooting. Earlier two people were reported to be in a critical condition, a third in serious condition.
- ^ The Sanaa massacre was a school massacre that occurred in Sana'a, Yemen, on March 30, 1997. Mohammad Ahman al-Naziri, 48, attacked hundreds of pupils at two schools, killing six children and two adults with an assault rifle. Naziri, whose five children attended the Tala'i school, alleged that one of his daughters had been raped by the school administrator. No evidence was found of this. Naziri was sentenced to death the next day and executed on April 5, 1997.
- ^ A student was shot dead by a fraternity member after being mistaken for a member of the rival fraternity.
- ^ The Monash University shooting refers to a shooting in which a student shot his classmates and teacher, killing two and injuring five. It took place at Monash University in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on October 21, 2002.
- ^ 17-year old Anatcha Boonkwan killed two, injured four of his fellow students after losing a fist-fight with one of his classmates.
- ^ Four students killed and five wounded by a 15-year-old student in a town 620 miles south of Buenos Aires. Crisis Management: The Case of School Schootings - Case Study: "Islas Malvinas" Middle School
- ^ Four people were shot dead in clashes between pro- and anti-government activists on Thursday and about 200 were hurt in the violence that flared after a scuffle between students at a Beirut university. The opposition accused the government camp of starting the riots and the four dead included two Hezbollah students, who were fired at from rooftops.
- ^ The Euro International school shooting occurred on December 12, 2007 at Euro International, a private secondary school in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. The gunmen were 14-year old Akash Yadav and 13-year old Vikas Yadav, who were both students at the school, shot and killed a 14-year old student.
- ^ Alaa Abu Dhein, an Israeli Arabic yeshiva bus driver, entered the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva with guns blazing, killing eight and wounding seven, before being shot dead himself by a part-time student. This incident, as do many massacres in the Levant, soon took on racial and religious overtones, pitting Palestinians and Israeli Arabs against Jews.
- ^ Azerbaijan Oil Academy mass shooting, 30 April 2009
- ^ [1] A former student (23) shot at least 13 people inside the school, before turning the gun on himself
- ^ A discussion of the reasoning behind gun free zone, 2007-2008.
- ^ "New Year gun amnesty planned". BBC News. December 27, 2002. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
- ^ James C. McKinley Jr.: "In Texas School, Teachers Carry Books and Guns" New York Times, August 28, 2008
- ^ "Guns on college campuses allowed in U.S. state Utah" The Associated Press, in The International Herald Tribune, April 27, 2007
- ^ "Utah Supreme Court Shoots down University of Utah Gun Ban" September 9, 2006, John Lott's Website
- ^ Dave Kopel: "Follow the Leader: Israel and Thailand set an example by arming teachers." National Review Online, September 2, 2004
External links
- "Are U.S. Schools Safe?" - CNN In-Depth Special
- "School Killers." - Crime Library
- SchoolShooting.org - Map of school shootings in the US and related info.
- The Depressive and the Psychopath: The FBI's analysis of the Columbine killers' motives
- Schoolboy killing stuns Canada (The Guardian)
- BBC timeline of US school shootings
- Identity annihilation as explanation for school shootings
- Indianapolis Star: School violence around the world (November 2004)
- The Scene of the Crime Was the Cause of the Crime - Excerpt from Going Postal: Rage, Murder, and Rebellion—From Reagan's Workplaces to Clinton's Columbine and Beyond by Mark Ames.
- Dreading Columbine - Sociological exploration of suburban school shootings.
- Deadly Lessons: Understanding Lethal School Violence
- Teaching Kids to Kill
- Chronology of School Shootings
- Held Hostage at Case Western
- Student Threat Assessment and Management System Guide
- Causes of school shootings. Reviewing the social interaction of pupils
- Horrific School Shootings - slideshow by Life magazine
- SchoolShooters.Info
Reports
- Mass Shootings at Virginia Tech Report of the Review Panel
- U.S. study of school shootings, "The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative"
- Advice for safe schools, Threat assessment in schools: A Guide to managing threatening situations and to creating safe school climates
- School Violence