Correlates of the Number Shot and Killed in Active Shooter Events

Active shooter events have captured the public’s attention since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. Although there has been research on various aspects of these events, only a single study has attempted to identify factors that are related to the number of people injured or killed in these events. This study was limited in that it only considered the presence or absence of a semi-automatic rifle. This paper expands on the existing research by examining several other factors that may impact the total number of people shot or killed during active shooter events.

Law Enforcement's Impact on School Violence

Since the 1980s, school violence has been prominent in society and is gradually increasing in occurrence. In 1999, the Columbine High School shooting shocked the country demonstrating how deadly school violence can be, with a death count of 13 total people, including 12 students and 1 teacher. The next prominent occurrence was in 2005 on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, where 10 people were killed at the hands of a 16-year-old student. Another more recent act of school violence was in 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut, at Sandy Hook Elementary School. There, the shooter killed 28 people including children and teachers inside the school and his mother. And the latest horrific incidence of this kind took place at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in February of 2018. The shooter took the lives of 14 students and 3 school employees. As a response to these shootings, law enforcement has collaborated with schools to implement the use of school resource officers, emergency evaluation/reaction drills, and new policies regarding school violence.