• In 2022, there were 46 school shootings; the highest number of shootings on record since 1999.
• Between 1999 and 2022, 331 active shooter events occurred at K-12 schools in the United States.
• In this timeframe, these events resulted in 192 fatalities and 413 injuries; directly exposing 383,289
  students and 20,886 school sta$ to an act of mass violence.
• Direct exposure to a school shooting places individuals and communities at high risk for post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety disorders and are associated with signifiucant socioemotional disruptions.
  

While each incident has its own unique characteristics, certain common factors are evident:

• Active shooters are predominantly male (96%), between 18-25 years of age (median age 16).
• 76% of school shooters are current or former students.
• 93% of shooters display signs of intent or early warning behaviors, and more than 75% of individuals communicate their intent to peers or on social media.
• Over 92% of school shooters exhibit signs of mental illness or suicidal ideation prior to or during the shooting.
• The U.S. Secret Service found 81% of shooters had told another individual they were thinking of or planning an attack, yet only 4% attempted to dissuade the shooter due to disbelief in the credibility or urgency of the report.
• 80% of the #rearms used in K-12 school shootings were stolen from a family member.

These findings, and many others, strongly suggest that most of these events could have been prevented. Society’s response has been significant, but not sufficient.

Successfully addressing the school shooting problem will require extraordinary leadership because the nature of the threat is that it is unseen, not well understood, and unexpected. Although approximately 331 schools have been victimized since 1997, these horri#c incidents represent only 0.3% of 115,576 K thru 12 schools in the United States. To maintain vigilance in the face of the extremely low likelihood that a shooting will occur at YOUR school is a most difficult leadership challenge.

Far too often, protective systems do not prioritize “low probability, high consequence” concerns on their list of priorities. And yet, it is these very issues that generally surface in the post action reviews of the tragedy.