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Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness + Find a Therapist

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View the latest from the world of psychology: from behavioral research to practical guidance on relationships, mental health and addiction. Find help from our directory of therapists, psychologists and counselors.

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The following table lists the worldwide school shootings from 1996 to the present. Find the date, location, and a short description of each incident.

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There has been a lot of school shooting ranging from 6-33

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There has been a lot of school shooting ranging from 6-33

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Ten people have been killed in a shooting at a school in Texas.

Officials have said the alleged gunman has been arrested and charged in connection with the incident at Santa Fe High School.

President Donald Trump expressed his "sadness and heartbreak" following the attack.

It comes months after one of America's most deadly shootings at a school in Florida.

Each massacre reopens the debate on America's gun problem, though nothing seems to change.

Here is a look back at some of the deadliest gun attacks at schools and universities in the US in recent history.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, 2018: 17 killed
The Florida massacre is one of the deadliest school shootings in US history.

It was the 18th gun incident at a school in America when it happened in February this year and, according to monitor Gun Violence Archive, the 30th mass shooting in the country.

President Donald Trump condemned the attack in Parkland, saying "no child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school".
Virginia Tech University, 2007: 32 killed
The Virginia Tech massacre, which happened on 16 April 2007, was America's worst university shooting, with both students and teachers among the dead.

Seung Hui Cho, 23, was armed with two handguns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

The South Korean-born student chained and locked several main doors in the building and went from room to room shooting people.

After massacring his victims, he killed himself.

It was later revealed Cho had a history of mental health problems and had spent time in a psychiatric hospital.
"It was the worst day of violence on a college campus in American history" - George W Bush Sandy Hook Elementary School, 2012: 26 killed
Adam Lanza, 20, stole his mother's guns after shooting and killing her at their home in Newtown, Connecticut on 14 December 2012.

He drove her car to Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he went as a child.

He killed 20 children, six adults and himself within 11 minutes.

President Obama wiped away tears as he addressed the press following the tragedy.

Even though the massacre led to proposed changes to gun laws, and changes were made in certain states, attempts at federal legislation all failed.
"This evening, Michelle and I will do what I know every parent in America will do, which is hug our children a little tighter and we'll tell them that we love them, and we'll remind each other how deeply we love one another. But there are families in Connecticut who cannot do that tonight" - Barack Obama Columbine High School, 1999: 13 killed
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold attacked Columbine High School in Colorado on 20 April 1999.

They murdered 12 students and one teacher and planted more than 100 explosive devices around the school.

They exchanged fire with police officers at the scene before shooting and killing themselves.

Police said Harris and Klebold walked into the school cafeteria and left two bags of explosives which they set to explode.

They left the building and waited, but went back in when they failed to detonate and began their killing spree.
"To the families who have lost their loved ones, to the parents who have lost their beloved children, to the wounded children and their families, to the people of the community of Littleton, I can only say tonight that the prayers of the American people are with you" - Bill Clinton University of Texas, 1966: 15 killed
Charles Whitman shot and killed 15 people from the viewing platform of the main University of Texas building on 1 August 1966.

A former Marine sharpshooter, the 25-year-old architectural student was able to accurately aim at people below.

He had shot and killed his mother and stabbed his wife to death the night before, before shooting and killing 14 people on this day of his carefully planned attack.

The 15th victim, David Gunby, died in 2001 due to chronic kidney problems which he suffered as a result of the gunshot wound inflicted by Whitman.

One of his victims was an unborn child.

The University of Texas tower stayed closed for 25 years.
"What happened is not without a lesson: that we must press urgently for the legislation now pending in Congress to help prevent the wrong person from obtaining firearms" - Lyndon B Johnson Umpqua Community College, 2015: Nine killed
Chris Harper-Mercer, 26, died in an exchange of gunfire with police in Oregon after he shot and killed nine people at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon on 1 October 2015.

He had body armour and was armed with three pistols, a rifle and five rounds of extra ammunition.

He was said to have supported the IRA and admire a man who shot and killed a TV presenter live on air.

His victims were an assistant professor and eight students.
"There's been another mass shooting in America... As I said just a few months ago, and I said a few months before that, and I said each time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It's not enough" - Barack Obama Isla Vista, 2014: Six killed
British-born student Elliot Rodger killed six people in a gun and knife rampage near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara, on 23 May 2014.

The 22-year-old "repeatedly stabbed" three men to death in his apartment before taking to the streets in his BMW to target female students.

He had three semi-automatic handguns and 400 rounds of ammunition with him when he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In a disturbing 141-page document entitled My Twisted World, as well as in YouTube videos, Rodger had vented his rage at women who rejected him.

"I will punish all females for the crime of depriving me of sex," he wrote.
"All died much too young but it's important that we do not let the arithmetic of this atrocity define them" - University of California president Janet Napolitano

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Ten people have been killed in a shooting at a school in Texas. Officials have said the alleged gunman has been arrested and charged in connection with the incident at Santa Fe High School. President Donald Trump expressed his "sadness and heartbreak" following the attack.

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school shooting, in the typical case, an event in which a student at an educational institution-an elementary, middle, or high school or a college or university-shoots and injures or kills at least one other student or faculty member on the grounds of that institution. Such incidents usually involve multiple deaths. Rampage school shootings are a type of school shooting where no single or specific individual is targeted by the shooter. Although school shootings occur worldwide, the United States has been the scene of the vast majority of the attacks, especially since the late 20th century.

School shootings

Although school shootings have a long history in the United States, the 1990s were a pivotal point, with high-profile occurrences in such cities as Pearl, Mississippi (1997); West Paducah, Kentucky (1997); Springfield, Oregon (1998); and Jonesboro, Arkansas (1998). However, it was the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999 that brought particular urgency to the issue. In that attack, two students-Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold-killed 13 people before taking their own lives. The shootings garnered massive media attention and sparked a national debate on gun violence. In addition, some schools began taking extra security precautions.

Despite such efforts, school shootings continued, with multiple attacks taking place each year. In 2007 there were about 10 such shootings, the most notable of which occurred at Virginia Tech, where 32 people were killed before the gunman, Cho Seung-Hui from South Korea, took his own life. Later high-profile attacks included an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed 27 people before committing suicide; shortly before the attack he had also killed his mother in their home. The shooting garnered particular attention due to the age of the victims: 20 of those killed were 6-7 years old.

Risk factors for school shooters

Given the prevalence of such shootings, many journalistic and scholarly investigations focused on identifying the major risk factors for becoming a school shooter. Most studies identified extreme social rejection and bullying as key risk factors. Social rejection, perpetrated by peers, often included romantic rejection. Bullying took numerous forms, both verbal and physical, and was heavily characterized by actions and words meant to humiliate the victim. Other research-identified risk factors included the availability of guns and the consumption of violent media (especially violent video games, but also violent music, television shows, and films).

Significantly, a more recently identified risk of would-be school shooters was bullying and social rejection that challenged boys' masculinity, particularly in the form of "gay-baiting." Other masculinity-driven taunting of boys who became shooters included mocking their physical bodies with labels such as scrawny, little, short, fat, skinny, chubby, or small. Shooters were often the most bullied male members in the school, and the primary bullies of future school shooters were often the most popular male youths in the school, typically the male athletes and "preppies." Thus, when the bullying victims became shooters, they often attacked the popular males who bullied them. However, the shooters were also likely to attack others with low status in the school, and it was not unusual for school shooters to espouse racist (e.g., Nazi) dogmas.

In addition, it was noted that some of the shooters suffered from psychological problems. In the case of Newtown's Lanza, medical experts had diagnosed him with various psychiatric disorders, but they had largely been untreated. Cho also had a history of mental illness, and in 2005, two years before his attack at Virginia Tech, a court had found him to be a danger to himself.

Race, gender, class, and school shootings

The majority of school shootings are committed by white middle-class males living in suburban or rural areas. In attempting to explain this phenomenon, some researchers argued that African American parents recognized the need to prepare their children to face not only bullying but also humiliating racist comments and acts from the dominant culture. They frequently emphasized to their children that racist behaviours are wrong and that their children need not feel alone in their struggle.

Research on the predominantly or exclusively white communities where the white male middle-class school shooters resided painted a very different picture. Parents and school staff in these areas indicated that they offered little or no opportunity either to stop the intense bullying or to help the victims process the emotions and identify strategies for responding. Because the boys were sometimes ashamed to report these violations of their masculinity, parents and school staff were often ignorant of, or ignored, the daily demoralizing, humiliating, and taunting environments embedded in the school and community cultures where the white school shooters lived. Thus, some future school shooters were left to determine on their own how to negotiate their feelings of intense rejection and discrimination relating to their social standing in their schools and among their peers-they were on their own in defending their sense of self in the context of their often extreme physical and verbal bullying and severe personal humiliation.

Media portrayals of school shootings

Research on media representations of school shootings suggested that in the case of white suburban school shootings, newspaper articles were written in a manner more likely to foster sympathy for the shooters. In the case of Klebold and Harris, the shooters at Columbine, they were often portrayed as bullied youths who were victims of a society inundated with violent video games and handguns, blocked from the entitlements their social status typically promised.

Articles on African American urban shootings, however, were found to be shorter, and they portrayed urban crime as "reality." Furthermore, the research indicated that the media were more likely to stress the need to pursue the shooters and hold them accountable. For example, the media largely portrayed the 1992 school shooting by Joseph White-a 15-year-old African American male who shot and killed another 15-year-old black male and injured two other students at his Chicago high school-as random and without provocation. However, the resulting court case indicated the shooter was responding to the reality of the prevalent dangerous youth and gang culture in which he lived.
Joanne Belknap Tanya Greathouse The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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School shooting | Definition, Examples, Causal Factors, & Facts

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School shooting, in the typical case, an event in which a student at a school shoots and injures or kills at least one other student or faculty member on the grounds of that school. Although school shootings occur worldwide, the United States has been the scene of the vast majority of the attacks.