The School Shootings of 2019: What's Behind the Numbers

By Education Week

In 2019, eight people were killed and 43 were injured in 25 shooting incidents that occurred on school grounds or during school-sponsored events, according to Education Week’s school shooting tracker. This is the second year Education Week has kept count of school shootings that killed or injured people. While the death and injury tolls are smaller than in 2018 when there were two mass school shootings, in Parkland, Fla., and Santa Fe, Texas, the devastation to school communities and families is no less profound. In 11 incidents, gunfire erupted during or just after school-sponsored athletic events, exposing critical vulnerabilities K-12 leaders face in keeping students, staff, and community members safe from violence outside school buildings and outside the hours of the regular school day. Seven times this year, high school football games were the venue for a shooting that injured multiple people and sent spectators into a panic. In one incident, a 10-year-old boy attending a high school football game in New Jersey was shot and later died.

For the most recent data on school shootings, click here.

2019 Totals

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Where the Shootings Happened

Eleven shootings took place during, or just after, a high school sporting event where, in some cases, hundreds of panicked people fled the sounds of gunfire. The year’s deadliest school shooting was in a Santa Clarita, Calif., high school, where a 16-year-old male student killed two classmates and injured three others before shooting and killing himself.

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Size of the dots correlates to the number of victims. Click on each dot for more information.

Times and Places Incidents Occurred

There was an equal number of shootings that took place during the regular school day and that occurred in evenings during a school-sponsored athletic event. Two shootings involved school buses.

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About the Suspects

This year, the number of school shooters who were students was similar to the number of school shooters who were not students. But because school shooters are often students, safety experts recommend that schools invest in prevention efforts, not just hardening security.

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Those Killed in School Shootings in 2019

Eight people—4 of them under the age of 18—died in school shootings in 2019. One victim's identity has not been released. Of the known victims, the youngest was 10. The oldest was 48.

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Related:

• The Heartbreaking Work of Tracking School Shootings

• The School Shootings of 2018: What's Behind the Numbers

• Should Schools Be Able to Detect Every Would-Be Shooter?

• How Gun Violence Is Changing Friday Night Football

• A 10-Year-Old's Shooting Death and the Challenge Schools Face Keeping Football Games Safe