Table 228.13.

Number of school shootings at public and private elementary and secondary schools, by type of situation associated with shooting: 2000-01 through 2020-21

School year	Total	Situation associated with shooting
		Escalation of dispute1	Acci- dental2	Suicide or attempted suicide3	Domestic, with targeted victim4	Indiscrim- inate shooting5	Anger over grades/ suspension/ discipline6	Murder/ suicide7	Bullying8	Psychosis9	Hostage standoff10	Intentional property damage11	Self-defense12	Drive-by13	Illegal activity14	Unknown15
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
Total, 2000-01     through     2020-21	1,045	349	120	89	52	52	13	10	18	12	29	30	11	78	68	114
2000-01	30	5	3	5	0	1	1	1	2	0	6	0	0	1	3	2
2001-02	17	5	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	2	1
2002-03	24	5	2	7	1	3	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1
2003-04	34	11	4	3	2	2	0	1	1	0	2	0	1	3	3	1
2004-05	44	18	9	2	2	2	1	2	0	0	0	1	1	3	0	3
2005-06	51	26	7	2	1	0	1	0	1	1	2	0	0	5	4	1
2006-07	64	20	7	9	1	9	1	2	2	1	2	0	1	4	2	3
2007-08	16	5	1	3	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	0
2008-09	52	23	8	8	2	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	0	3	1	2
2009-10	15	4	1	0	3	0	1	0	3	2	0	0	1	0	0	0
2010-11	18	7	3	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	2	1	0	1	1	0
2011-12	16	5	2	1	2	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
2012-13	26	8	3	6	0	2	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	4	0
2013-14	46	19	3	5	2	3	0	1	1	1	0	1	0	4	4	2
2014-15	43	21	4	6	2	1	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	3	1	2
2015-16	38	9	11	0	5	2	1	0	0	2	0	1	0	3	2	2
2016-17	47	16	6	5	1	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	2	5	1	4
2017-18	89	25	18	7	5	7	1	1	2	2	0	4	1	3	6	7
2018-19	115	48	11	10	7	5	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	9	8	14
2019-20	114	46	9	2	5	6	0	0	1	0	0	6	2	10	10	17
2020-21	146	23	5	7	10	1	0	0	0	1	3	11	0	18	15	52

1 Argument or fight between the shooter and victim prior to the shooting.

2 No intent to fire the weapon (e.g., showing off gun and it went off; gun in backpack went off).

3 Suicide or attempted suicide by shooter, who was the only victim (not an indiscriminate shooting or revenge/bullying where shooter kills self during the shooting).

4 Shooter had a romantic or familial relationship with the victim, or victim was in a romantic relationship with a former lover of the shooter.

5 Targeted at random victims with the intent to kill or injure as many as possible (e.g., fired into a crowd; shot students in the hallway and random classrooms).

6 Shooter primarily targeted teacher or school administrator due to recent poor grades, suspension, expulsion, or discipline. Also includes a school employee who targeted a school administrator or coworker following poor performance evaluation, suspension, or loss of employment.

7 Shooter targeted victim and then immediately killed self (including other bystanders who were struck by gunfire but were not intended targets).

8 Shooter was bullied by the victim(s) and did not indiscriminately target random students.

9 Severe psychotic episode, or having paranoid schizophrenia stated in open-source reports (e.g., shooter believed the school was sending mind control signals or part of a government conspiracy).

10 A standoff at the school between an armed shooter and law enforcement with or without hostages taken. Hostages may have been released without injury and/or no shots were fired during the standoff.

11 Shots were fired to cause damage to the school building or vehicles on school property without intent to cause injury.

12 Shooter fired in self-defense or defense of someone else.

13 Shots were fired by a person in a vehicle at people, or another vehicle, on school property.

14 Shots were fired during a robbery, sale or exchange of illegal drugs, trespassing, theft of property, or exchange of stolen property.

15 There is not enough information available to determine the category.

NOTE: "School shootings" include all incidents in which a gun is brandished or fired or a bullet hits school property for any reason, regardless of the number of victims (including zero), time, day of the week, or reason (e.g., planned attack, accidental, domestic violence, gang-related). This table was created using a database that aims to compile information on school shootings from publicly available sources into a single comprehensive resource. For information on database methodology, see K-12 School Shooting Database: Research Methodology (https://www.chds.us/ssdb/resources/uploads/2020/09/CHDS-K12-SSDB-Research-Methods-Sept-2020.pdf). Due to school closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic, caution should be used when comparing 2019-20 and 2020-21 data with data from earlier years. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Defense, Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security, K-12 School Shooting Database, retrieved September 16, 2021, from https://www.chds.us/ssdb/. (This table was prepared September 2021.)