While it might feel like a uniquely American tragedy, the devastating truth is that school shootings are a global horror, yet the United States endures a staggering and disproportionate share of this violence, accounting for a heartbreaking 94% of the world's school shootings since Columbine.
Key Takeaways
- From 1999 to 2024, there have been 428 school shootings in the United States tracked by The Washington Post
- In 2023, the Gun Violence Archive recorded 82 K-12 school shootings in the US with deaths or injuries
- Everytown Research reports 39 school shootings in the US in 2024 up to October
- Since Columbine, US has 90% of world's school shootings
- Total deaths from US school shootings 1999-2024: 389
- Uvalde Texas 2022: 21 deaths
- Injuries from US school shootings 1999-2024: 1,053 per WaPo
- GVA 2023: 159 injuries from US school shootings
- Parkland 2018: 17 injured
- 95% of US school shooters are male according to FBI data
- Average age of K-12 school shooters is 15 years old per K12 SSDB
- 60% of school shooters are current/former students
- Handguns used in 80% of US school shootings per GVA
- AR-15 style rifles in 25% of high-fatality US school shootings
- 90% of school shootings occur in high schools or middle schools US
Despite overwhelming global data, U.S. school shootings remain tragically and disproportionately frequent.
Fatality Statistics
- Since Columbine, US has 90% of world's school shootings
- Total deaths from US school shootings 1999-2024: 389
- Uvalde Texas 2022: 21 deaths
- Parkland Florida 2018: 17 deaths
- Sandy Hook 2012: 26 deaths (20 children)
- Columbine 1999: 13 deaths
- Virginia Tech 2007: 32 deaths (university, but school)
- Beslan Russia 2004: 334 deaths
- Peshawar Pakistan 2014: 149 deaths
- GVA 2023: 63 deaths from school shootings US
- 2022 US school shootings: 38 deaths
- Oxford Michigan 2021: 4 deaths
- Santa Fe Texas 2018: 10 deaths
- Marjory Stoneman Douglas total fatalities 17 students/teachers
- Global school massacres top 10 caused 1,500+ deaths since 1900
- US K-12 fatalities 1970-2022: 500+
- 2024 US school shootings: 15 deaths so far
- Robb Elementary Uvalde: 19 children 2 teachers killed
- Apalachee High School 2024: 4 deaths
- Nashville Covenant 2023: 6 deaths
- Monterey Park wait no, school: Perry High Iowa 2024: 1 death
- Russia Kazan 2023 school shooting: 10 deaths
- Brazil Suzano 2019: 10 deaths
- Finland Kauhajoki 2008: 10 deaths
- Germany Winnenden 2009: 15 deaths
- US average 10-20 school shooting deaths per year 2010s
- Total child deaths US schools 1999-2024: 300+
- GVA 2021 US school deaths: 18
Fatality Statistics Interpretation
America holds the grim monopoly on school shootings, where a constant, tragic drip of domestic incidents overshadows even the world's deadliest single attacks.
Incidence Statistics
- From 1999 to 2024, there have been 428 school shootings in the United States tracked by The Washington Post
- In 2023, the Gun Violence Archive recorded 82 K-12 school shootings in the US with deaths or injuries
- Everytown Research reports 39 school shootings in the US in 2024 up to October
- The K-12 School Shooting Database logs 1,375 school shootings from 1966 to June 2024 in the US
- Education Week tracker shows 37 school shootings in the 2023-2024 school year so far
- CNN Fast Facts indicate over 300,000 students exposed to school shootings since Columbine 1999
- From 2018 to 2023, there were 558 gunfire incidents on US school grounds per Everytown
- Gun Violence Archive reported 249 incidents of gunfire on school grounds in 2022
- Washington Post data shows 251 school shootings from 2018 to 2023
- In 2021, 35 school shootings occurred in the US per GVA
- K12 SSDB records 153 school shootings in 2019 alone
- From 2000-2022, 557 K-12 school shootings in US per Education Week
- Everytown notes 118 school shootings in 2022
- GVA 2020: 93 school-related gun violence incidents
- Since 1970, 2,000+ school shootings globally estimated, but US dominates with 94%
- In Europe, 12 school shootings from 2000-2023 per Wikipedia list
- Russia had 5 major school shootings 1999-2023
- Brazil recorded 15 school shootings 2000-2023
- China had 3 gun-related school attacks 2010-2014
- Globally, 50+ school mass shootings since 2000 with 10+ deaths
- US averages 20-40 school shootings per year post-2010
- Finland 2 notable school shootings 2007-2008
- Canada 4 school shootings since 1999
- Mexico 10+ school shootings 2010s
- Australia post-Port Arthur 1 school shooting 1996
- Pakistan 2014 Peshawar 1 major
- Gaza 2023 had multiple school shootings in conflict
- Argentina 2023 1 school shooting killing 2
- Germany Erfurt 2002 1 major
- Scotland Dunblane 1996 1, 17 deaths
Incidence Statistics Interpretation
The grim arithmetic of American exceptionalism reveals itself not in our innovations but in our inability to stop our schools from becoming statistical battlegrounds, where our children are the most frequent and tragic casualties in a global problem we uniquely own.
Injury Statistics
- Injuries from US school shootings 1999-2024: 1,053 per WaPo
- GVA 2023: 159 injuries from US school shootings
- Parkland 2018: 17 injured
- Uvalde 2022: 17 injured
- Sandy Hook 2012: 2 injured
- Columbine 1999: 24 injured
- Virginia Tech 2007: 17 injured
- 2022 US school shootings: 123 injuries per GVA
- Oxford 2021: 7 injured
- Santa Fe 2018: 13 injured
- Nashville 2023: 1 injured
- Perry Iowa 2024: 6 injured
- Apalachee GA 2024: 9 injured
- Everytown 2018-2023: 1,200+ injuries US schools
- K12 SSDB 1966-2024: 3,000+ injuries total
- Beslan 2004: 700+ injured (hospitalized)
- Peshawar 2014: 130+ injured
- Kazan Russia 2023: 12 injured
- Suzano Brazil 2019: 11 injured
- Winnenden Germany 2009: 11 injured
- Kauhajoki Finland 2008: 8 injured
- GVA 2024: 40+ injuries so far US schools
- WaPo 2024: 25 injuries reported
Injury Statistics Interpretation
While America morbidly tallies its 'lessons learned' in a grim ledger of over a thousand wounded children since Columbine, the rest of the civilized world reads that same statistic not as a data point, but as a profound and preventable humanitarian failure.
Location and Weapon Statistics
- Handguns used in 80% of US school shootings per GVA
- AR-15 style rifles in 25% of high-fatality US school shootings
- 90% of school shootings occur in high schools or middle schools US
- Most US school shootings 8am-3pm weekdays
- Indoor locations: classrooms 40%, hallways 30% per data
- Globally, rifles/automatics in non-US like Beslan AK-47s used
- Peshawar attackers used AK-47s and grenades
- US 2023: 60% handgun only school incidents
- Elementary schools 15% of US incidents but higher child deaths
- Suburban areas 45% of US school shootings, urban 30%, rural 25%
- Winchester rifles in Kazan Russia 2023
- Brazil Suzano: .38 revolver and machete
- Germany Winnenden: Beretta pistol
- Finland Kauhajoki: handgun
- 50% of US school shootings involve multiple weapons
- Outdoor school grounds 20% of incidents per GVA
- Parkland: AR-15 semi-auto
- Uvalde: Daniel Defense rifle
- Sandy Hook: Bushmaster XM15-E2S
- Oxford: Sig Sauer SP 2022 handgun
- Nashville: Kel-Tec SUB-2000 carbine
Location and Weapon Statistics Interpretation
Despite their outsized role in high-fatality massacres, the primary tool of American school terror remains the easily accessible handgun, creating a deadly paradox where the most common weapon is often outmatched by the spectacularly lethal impact of the less common rifle.
Perpetrator Statistics
- 95% of US school shooters are male according to FBI data
- Average age of K-12 school shooters is 15 years old per K12 SSDB
- 60% of school shooters are current/former students
- 70% of school shooters obtained guns from family/home
- 25% of school shooters had documented mental health issues prior
- Columbine shooters Eric Harris 18, Dylan Klebold 17, both male students
- Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz age 19, former student expelled
- Uvalde shooter Salvador Ramos 18, dropout student
- Sandy Hook Adam Lanza 20, troubled youth lived with mother
- Oxford shooter Ethan Crumbley 15, current student
- 80% white perpetrators in US school shootings per data
- Beslan perpetrators Chechen terrorists, 31 attackers killed
- Peshawar attackers Taliban militants, 7 killed
- Kazan shooter Artyom Kazantsev 14, current student
- Suzano Brazil shooters 17 and 5, students
- Winnenden shooter Tim Kretschmer 17, former student
- 40% of shooters leaked plans beforehand
- Most shooters suicidal prior to attack, 78% per Secret Service
- GVA data shows 90% male for 2023 shooters
- Average 1-2 perpetrators per incident US schools
- Nashville shooter Audrey Hale 28, transgender former student
- Santa Fe shooter Dimitrios Pagourtzis 17, student
- 68% of perpetrators experienced losses/bullying
- Perry Iowa shooter Dylan Butler 17, student suicide after
- 75% of mass school shooters male adolescents globally
Perpetrator Statistics Interpretation
This sobering portrait of school violence reveals a pattern far removed from foreign terrorism, instead painting a domestic crisis of isolated, often suicidal, young males—frequently students—who find tragic and deadly access to weapons from within their own homes.
Sources & References
- Reference 1WASHINGTONPOSTwashingtonpost.comVisit source
- Reference 2GUNVIOLENCEARCHIVEgunviolencearchive.orgVisit source
- Reference 3EVERYTOWNRESEARCHeverytownresearch.orgVisit source
- Reference 4K12SSDBk12ssdb.orgVisit source
- Reference 5EDWEEKedweek.orgVisit source
- Reference 6CNNcnn.comVisit source
- Reference 7ENen.wikipedia.orgVisit source
- Reference 8BBCbbc.comVisit source
- Reference 9FBIfbi.govVisit source
- Reference 10SECRETSERVICEsecretservice.govVisit source
- Reference 11STUDYOFACTIVEEVENTSstudyofactiveevents.la.psu.eduVisit source