Everytown Research & Policy
What do we know about gun violence in schools?
From 2013 through 2022, Everytown identified 720 incidents of gunfire on the grounds of a preschool or K–12 school, including incidents of gun homicides and assaults, gun suicides and attempts, unintentional shootings, and mass shootings.1
School shooters usually have a connection to the school.
An Everytown analysis of the New York City Police Department’s review of active shooter incidents in K–12 schools over five decades found that the shooters were current or former students in 75 percent of these incidents.2
Guns used by shooters under age 18 usually come from the home.
76%
Roughly three-quarters of school shooters under the age of 18 got the gun from their home or the home of a close relative.
“Protecting America’s Schools: A US Secret Service Analysis of Targeted School Violence”. National Threat Assessment Center. (2019). https://bit.ly/2U7vnwa
A US Secret Service analysis of nearly 40 years of school violence found that roughly three-quarters of school shooters’ guns came from the home of a parent or close relative.3
School shooters nearly always exhibit advance warning signs.
In all incidents of targeted school violence—100 percent—there were warning signs that caused others to be concerned.4
School gun violence has a disproportionate impact on students of color.
Two in three incidents of gunfire on school grounds from 2013 to 2021 occurred in schools where one or more racial and/or ethnic minorities constituted a majority of the student population.5
