School Shooting Data Analysis and Reports

This Substack focuses on data-driven analysis and reports on school shootings, leveraging the K-12 School Shooting Database and other sources to propose preventive measures. It includes insights on patterns, security failures, legislative impacts, parental responsibility, and the efficacy of school safety protocols and training.

School Safety and Security Legislative Impacts on School Shootings Data Analysis and Trends in School Shootings Parental Responsibility in Preventing School Shootings Crisis Management and Response to School Shootings Community and School Preparedness Impact of Social Media and Online Platforms School Shooting Prevention Efforts

The hottest Substack posts of School Shooting Data Analysis and Reports

And their main takeaways

Why a School Shooting Database Exists: "Clear school safety data is nowhere to be found"

39 implied HN points • 20 Dec 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Transparency Public Policy
  1. Clear data on school safety is lacking, making it difficult for parents and policymakers to understand and address issues.
  2. Government crime data is often not timely, lacks quality control, and varies between agencies, causing confusion in decision-making.
  3. Public government data on school safety is not user-friendly or transparent, highlighting the need for accurate and accessible information.

How do AI security products being sold to schools really work?

19 implied HN points • 12 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Security Education Data Analysis
  1. School administrators are facing pressure to evaluate AI security products but may lack expert knowledge to do so.
  2. Understanding how AI models are trained, the probability threshold, and error rates are crucial when assessing AI security solutions.
  3. The high stakes of AI security decisions for schools underscore the importance of asking detailed questions about the technology being implemented.

US Government is 'not doing their homework' on gun violence at schools

39 implied HN points • 17 Nov 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Gun Violence School Shootings Data journalism Policy Impact
  1. The US Government lacks a federal record of gun violence in schools, which is a major oversight.
  2. Rigorous databases like the K-12 School Shooting Database provide crucial information on school shootings, showing the importance of collecting data.
  3. Data collection efforts, like those of David Riedman, play a vital role in supporting policy briefings, research, and raising awareness about gun violence in schools.

Every shooting at a school in February 2024

19 implied HN points • 04 Mar 24
📰 News Violence Safety Education
  1. The number of school shooting incidents in February 2024 highlight the importance of addressing threats seriously and implementing effective prevention measures.
  2. Shootings in schools during February 2024 occurred at various locations, emphasizing the need for safety plans throughout the entire day, not just during classroom hours.
  3. The decreasing trend in swatting incidents in February 2024, compared to previous years, showcases the potential impact of arrests on reducing such dangerous behaviors.
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Ethical Dilemma: Questions school officials should ask about 'safe rooms'

19 implied HN points • 22 Feb 24
🚌 Education School Security Ethical dilemmas Legal considerations
  1. Creating 'safe rooms' in schools for emergencies like shootings raises ethical questions about timing and decision-making during a crisis.
  2. The design and logistics of getting students into these 'safe rooms' quickly and effectively present significant challenges and potential risks.
  3. Legal considerations come into play with school 'safe rooms,' including issues related to OSHA confined space regulations and ADA accessibility standards.

One solution to swatting hoaxes is sending fewer cops

19 implied HN points • 12 Dec 23
📰 News Security Law enforcement Cost Analysis Emergency Response
  1. Sending fewer cops to swatting hoaxes can help break the cycle and discourage future incidents.
  2. Scaling back police responses to hoaxes saves time, money, and reduces risk of accidents or damages.
  3. It's challenging to stop swatting hoaxes due to the difficulty in tracing and blocking internet-based calls, but police can still adapt their response strategies.

Did OpenAI create the best weapon detection software available with ChatGPT-4o?

4 HN points • 04 Jun 24
🕹 Technology AI Security Data science Software Development
  1. AI weapon detection software struggles to differentiate between weapons and weapon-shaped objects like umbrellas or sticks, leading to issues in accuracy and efficiency.
  2. OpenAI's ChatGPT-4o offers more advanced weapon detection capabilities from image analysis compared to current market options, recognizing context better.
  3. ChatGPT-4o was successful in identifying guns and gun-like objects in various scenarios, showcasing a high level of performance in image classification and context understanding.

This school shooting data was featured by The Economist

19 implied HN points • 15 Nov 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Gun Violence Security Measures School Safety Data Analysis
  1. School shootings go beyond high profile incidents like Parkland, impacting hundreds of schools with lockdowns and swatting hoaxes, creating a broader emotional and social toll on students.
  2. Swatting, false 911 calls to trigger police response, poses a real danger to schools and has become a widespread issue, including multi-state serial swattings.
  3. Collaboration between The Economist and the K-12 School Shooting Database sheds light on the increasing security spending in schools, revealing the mismatch between rising security measures and the continued occurrences of shootings.

"Active Shooter" combines and confuses multiple distinct types of attacks

19 implied HN points • 10 Nov 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Safety measures Emergency Response
  1. Using the same term 'active shooter' for various types of attacks can lead to confusion in planning and responses.
  2. Different types of deliberate attacks at schools include insider attacks, frontal assaults, sniper attacks, assassination or ambush, hostage-taking, barricades, and complex coordinated attacks.
  3. Enhancing school security through physical building hardening and increased campus policing may not be effective against certain attack scenarios like insiders with authorized access, snipers, and frontal assaults.

Freakonomics Radio: School shootings are a causal chain of failures

19 implied HN points • 09 Nov 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Security Education Podcasts School Shootings
  1. School shootings are a result of a chain of failures, where each failure contributes to the tragic outcome.
  2. Preventing school shootings involves breaking the chain of failures - intervening in warning signs and providing support to individuals in distress.
  3. There are fundamental problems in school security protocol, including the lack of a unified national plan and evidence-based strategies. Kindness and early intervention can be more effective in preventing violence.

Preventable: A year after the shooting at CVPA High, little has changed

19 implied HN points • 03 Nov 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Gun Control School Shootings Legislation Public Safety Law enforcement
  1. School shootings are often preventable with attention to warning signs and red flags.
  2. Institutions failed to act despite a mother's alarming call for help with her son possessing a gun, showing the need for effective intervention methods.
  3. School shootings can be viewed as public suicides, requiring awareness of warning signs to prevent such tragic events.

Can you hear me now? Fatal flaws with public safety radios

19 implied HN points • 28 Jun 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Public Safety Government Contracts Emergency Response Legal Proceedings
  1. Former Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson is on trial for felony child neglect due to his failure to engage a school shooter, marking the first criminal charge for failure to act during a school attack in the US.
  2. Radio system failures pose significant challenges for public safety agencies, affecting communication during critical incidents despite billions spent on system improvements after 9/11.
  3. Motorola dominates emergency telecommunications in the US due to noncompetitive contracts, potentially hindering effective radio system upgrades and leading to incidents with deadly consequences.

20 Years Later: 349 Deaths from Guns in Schools Since Columbine

0 implied HN points • 15 Apr 19
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics School Shootings
  1. 29 of the 50 most deadly school shootings from 1970-2019 happened before Columbine, showing it was not the first incident or the last.
  2. Since Columbine in 1999, there have been 727 incidents of gun firing on school property, resulting in 349 deaths and 674 injuries, indicating the ongoing issue.
  3. Not all school shooters are deranged; incidents occur for various reasons like gang-related, domestic disputes, mental health issues, and more, showing the complexity of the problem.

The Other School Shootings: Gun Violence at America’s Poorest Schools

0 implied HN points • 24 Jan 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics School Shootings Gun Violence Education
  1. Many school shootings happen at America's poorest schools, which receive little attention compared to high-profile incidents at suburban schools.
  2. Under-resourced schools with below-average performance and high proportions of Black and economically disadvantaged students are disproportionately affected by gun violence.
  3. There's a troubling lack of action and attention towards preventing school shootings in vulnerable, low-income schools, highlighting systemic issues and the need for broader societal change.

What is ‘school security’?

0 implied HN points • 28 Jul 22
🚌 Education Security Funding Equipment Training Procedures
  1. School security is complex and not as simple as just adding more security measures.
  2. Components of school security include the physical campus, security equipment, procedures and training, and personnel.
  3. Various security equipment and measures for schools have pros and cons, and not all solutions are effective in preventing school shootings.

COVID, Columbine, Copycats, and Counting School Shootings

0 implied HN points • 20 Apr 20
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics School Shootings Gun Violence COVID-19 Joe Biden Social reform
  1. Columbine High School Massacre remains culturally significant, influencing school shootings for years with no meaningful legislation or reform.
  2. Copycat school shooting incidents like the recent plot by a Russian teen reflect a global impact of events like Columbine.
  3. Viral tweets about school shootings can be misleading, and it's important to fact-check information to understand the true extent of school violence.

K-12 SSDB data used in top academic journal article

0 implied HN points • 22 Dec 23
🚌 Education Research Analysis Findings
  1. Getting an article published in top-tier academic journals like Nature, New England Journal of Medicine, and Science Advances is crucial for a researcher's career.
  2. The study discussed in the post analyzed how NRA donations at county-level are affected by school shootings, showing a significant increase.
  3. Research findings highlighted that school shootings lead to increased NRA donations, with higher impact when there are more fatalities, and donations continue for years after the incident.

Many School Shootings Are Also Terrorist Bombings

0 implied HN points • 27 May 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Terrorism School Shootings National Security
  1. Many school shootings are planned as both shootings and bombings, not just shootings.
  2. Labeling school shootings as terrorism can help prevent them by allowing the national security enterprise to study and respond to warning signs.
  3. The best solutions to prevent school shootings involve crisis intervention, threat assessment programs, and leveraging technology for quick response and safety.

The Slaughter Schoolhouse: Why carrying rifles all day is a bad idea

0 implied HN points • 05 Feb 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Gun Control School Safety Law enforcement
  1. Carrying rifles all day in schools is not advisable as most school shootings involve handguns and not rifles.
  2. Having a rifle can hinder the ability of school police officers to swiftly and safely intervene during fights and crisis situations.
  3. Rifles in schools pose risks of students obtaining the weapon, escalating injuries, and causing physical strain on officers.

Stop the Arbitrary Benchmark for a Mass Shooting

0 implied HN points • 24 Mar 21
📰 News Mass Shootings Emergency Response
  1. There is a lack of consensus on what defines a mass shooting, with various organizations and experts having different definitions.
  2. The number of fatalities in a shooting is a flawed benchmark for labeling it a mass shooting, as other factors like the type of firearm, ammo used, and emergency response play crucial roles.
  3. Focusing on the intent and circumstances of the shooting rather than just the death toll is important to truly understand and address the issue of mass shootings.

School Shootings: Who, When, and Where

0 implied HN points • 08 Oct 18
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics School Shootings Security Measures Data Analysis
  1. Most school shootings are carried out by current students, so high tech security systems focused on access control may not be effective.
  2. More than half of school shootings happen outside the school building, so security measures within the building may not address the primary risk.
  3. 30% of school shootings occur after school hours, highlighting the need to consider security measures during non-school hours when the facility is still in use.

Commanding is Not Communicating During Chaotic Incidents

0 implied HN points • 22 Jun 18
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Security Emergency Response
  1. During chaotic incidents, communication is more critical than commanding for effective response.
  2. Establishing an incident communicator role can significantly improve responder communications and coordination during major incidents.
  3. Decentralized command with effective communication is essential for managing complex incidents like shootings, fires, or plane crashes.

Every shooting at a school in March 2024

0 implied HN points • 01 Apr 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics School Safety Gun Violence School Shootings Legislation Security Measures
  1. Shootings at schools in March 2024 were more common during arrival/dismissal times, complicating security measures.
  2. There was a decrease in the number of school shooting incidents and victims in 2024 compared to previous years.
  3. Handguns were the most commonly used firearm type in school shootings, emphasizing the need to address teens carrying concealed handguns.

New Questions One Year After Covenant School shooting in Nashville

0 implied HN points • 28 Mar 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy Police School Shootings Accountability Transparency
  1. New details have emerged about the police response to the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, prompting further questions and scrutiny
  2. The revised timeline reveals a detective was first to enter the school, raising concerns about the timing and equipment of responding officers
  3. The 14-minute delay in locating and neutralizing the shooter raises important questions about lockdown procedures and response speed

School shootings are a gun violence problem, not a gender identity issue

0 implied HN points • 28 Mar 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Gun Violence Gender identity School Shootings
  1. School shootings are primarily a gun violence problem, not a gender identity issue, as historical instances include both males and females carrying out such attacks.
  2. Female school shooters are rarer but have been involved in planned school shootings over the last 50 years, highlighting the need for comprehensive prevention strategies.
  3. The shooter in the recent Nashville incident was a 28-year-old woman, deviating from the typical profile of school shooters, who are usually current or former students in their teens or early 20s.

By every measure, 2022 was the worst year ever for school shootings

0 implied HN points • 30 Dec 22
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Gun Control School Safety Mass Shootings Security Measures
  1. In 2022, there were 302 school shootings, making it the worst year for school shootings ever, with more victims than ever before.
  2. Many school shootings in 2022 involved planned attacks, showing a concerning level of premeditation and violence.
  3. Increased security during school hours led to more shootings after school and during sporting events, indicating a need for further research on school safety measures.

Part 4: Ways to reduce noise when assessing school shooting threats

0 implied HN points • 16 May 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health Safety Technology Data Analysis Decision-making
  1. Having groups assess school shooting threats leads to more consistent and accurate judgments by reducing individual variability.
  2. Utilizing the wisdom of crowds, where multiple assessments are averaged, can help in decision-making and improve accuracy, especially in critical situations like school shooting threats.
  3. Implementing algorithms for threat assessment, alongside human judgement, can standardize evaluations, reduce bias, and potentially enhance decision-making processes in school safety.

Part 3: Results from 'noise audit' when assessing school shooting threats

0 implied HN points • 07 May 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics School Safety Law enforcement Threat assessment Policy Recommendations
  1. Noise in decisions made by experts can lead to significant variability in assessing school shooting threats.
  2. Police officers displayed a wide range of responses and inconsistencies when rating severity of different fictional scenarios.
  3. There is a need for more evidence-based training for law enforcement on assessing threats as many current beliefs by officers were found to be incorrect.

Part 2: Measuring 'noise' when assessing school shooting threats

0 implied HN points • 23 Apr 24
🚌 Education Research Survey Threat assessment Methods Findings
  1. Noise refers to the unwanted variability in decisions made by experts when looking at the same information, leading to inconsistent decisions.
  2. The 'noise' audit process involves creating fictional scenarios and survey questions to measure the undesirable variability in decision-making when assessing threats.
  3. The study involved sending a survey to law enforcement practitioners who rated fictitious school shooting threat vignettes and selected response actions, aiming to understand how 'noise' impacts threat assessment.

How many school shootings since Columbine?

0 implied HN points • 18 Apr 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Gun Control Public Safety School Shootings Data Analysis Policy Recommendations
  1. Each individual's interpretation of a term, like 'school shooting,' can significantly impact the reported numbers. Defining terms clearly is crucial for accurate understanding of statistics.
  2. How data is presented can greatly influence the story it tells. Metrics like mean, median, and mode can reveal different aspects of the same data set.
  3. Different criteria for categorizing school shootings, such as the number of victims or the presence of pre-planned intent, can lead to vastly different counts and implications.

Film Study: Learning from North Kansas City High basketball game shooting

0 implied HN points • 09 Apr 24
🚌 Education Safety Training Technology Planning Security
  1. After a shooting incident, school officials should analyze security plans and procedures by studying the events similar to how coaches review game film.
  2. Many schools lack specific plans or training for shootings during sports events, highlighting the need for better emergency coordination, notification systems, and radio interoperability.
  3. Security technology like acoustic gunshot detection systems and CCTV image classification software can provide valuable insights, but their effectiveness relies on proper implementation and resolution of cameras.

Impact of electronic hacking devices on school security

0 implied HN points • 24 Feb 24
🕹 Technology School Security Cybersecurity
  1. There are handheld devices that can read, copy, and transmit digital access codes to open electronic keycard locks, posing a security risk.
  2. Hackers could potentially access school buildings with electronic door locks during nights or weekends, posing a threat to security measures.
  3. Electronic locks, gun safes, panic buttons, and other wireless devices in schools may be vulnerable to hacking, affecting overall school security.

11 months later: Nashville police response to Covenant School shooting remains secret, leaving lessons unlearned

0 implied HN points • 05 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Law enforcement School Shootings Transparency Accountability
  1. The Nashville police response to the Covenant School shooting is shrouded in secrecy without an official report or timeline even 11 months after the incident, hindering the ability to learn from it.
  2. The release of altered bodycam footage raises questions about the accuracy and transparency of the events, highlighting the need for accurate documentation and accountability.
  3. The delayed police response in Nashville compared to other instances like Uvalde shows the importance of understanding the details of each school shooting response to enhance preparedness for future incidents.

Revisiting the North Park Elementary School Shooting

0 implied HN points • 15 Dec 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics School Shootings Security Measures Legal action
  1. School shootings that don't make national news can still offer valuable lessons on prevention and security measures.
  2. Common school security measures like having SROs, locked doors, or badges may not always prevent shootings by insiders.
  3. The challenges with fortifying school campuses lie in addressing the issue of domestic abuse and preventing potential abusers from accessing firearms.

Gunfire on the Gridiron: 2023 high school football season

0 implied HN points • 09 Dec 23
🎾 Sports Violence Security Budget Media Coverage Community Impact
  1. Gun violence at high school football games is a significant issue, with 40 shootings occurring this season resulting in deaths and injuries.
  2. Regional differences show half of the shootings took place in the South, possibly due to the popularity of football in these areas.
  3. Shootings at school sporting events are not isolated incidents but rather reflect a concerning trend that requires national attention and improved security measures.

Active Shooter: When you can’t run, can’t hide, and can’t fight

0 implied HN points • 01 Nov 23
🌍 World Politics Mass Shootings Emergency Response Security Measures Risk Assessment
  1. Guidance during active shooter situations usually advises to run, hide, or fight, but sometimes all options are impossible.
  2. Certain locations like concert venues, nightclubs, movie theaters, churches, shopping malls, and office spaces may limit the ability to run, hide, or fight during an active shooter event.
  3. When traditional responses are not viable, rapid assessment, basic trauma first aid, and improvisation with available items can make a difference in saving lives during an active shooter attack.

3 Lessons (not) Learned from Allen, TX and Serbian School Shooting

0 implied HN points • 08 May 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Gun Control School Safety Mass Shootings Security Measures Threat assessment
  1. Unrestricted access to military-grade weapons allows for quick and deadly attacks
  2. Efforts focusing on physical security measures may not effectively prevent mass shootings
  3. Crisis intervention and threat assessment programs are crucial for spotting red flags and preventing access to firearms before attacks