The research focused on 318 school shooting incidents from 2009-19. Here are key takeaways from the research, organized by topic:

Region. School shootings occurred nationwide in every state except West Virginia and Wyoming. Half of all school shootings over the past 10 years occurred in the South and the greatest number of school shootings occurred in Florida (24), Texas (24), and Georgia (23).
School level. Most school shootings occurred in high schools, where incidents were most often related to disputes and grievances, school-targeted shootings, and suicides. In middle schools, accidental shootings and shootings related to disputes and grievances were the most prevalent. In elementary schools, most shootings were accidental.
Location. Most (61 percent) of school shootings occurred outside the school building. When shootings occurred outside a school building, disputes and grievances were the most prevalent reasons. When shootings occurred inside school buildings, they were most commonly accidental. Shootings that occurred inside a school building were, on average, three times deadlier per incident than shootings that occurred outside the school building.
Shooter. Half of the school shootings were committed by a student or former student. The other half were committed by individuals with no relationship to the school or whose relationship was unknown. With school shootings that were accidental, a suicide, or school-targeted, the shooter was more often a student or former student. However, when the shooting was the result of a dispute or grievance, the shooter was a non-student in most cases.

Kara Arundel covers special education for LRP Publications, publisher of DA.

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