United States Government Accountability Office
Highlights of GAO-20-455, a report to
congressional requesters
June 2020
K-12 EDUCATION
Characteristics of School Shootings
What GAO Found
GAO found that shootings at K-12 schools most commonly resulted from
disputes or grievances, for example, between students or staff, or
between gangs, although the specific characteristics of school shootings
over the past 10 years varied widely, according to GAO’s analysis of the
Naval Postgraduate School’s K-12 School Shooting Database. (See
figure.) After disputes and grievances, accidental shootings were most
common, followed closely by school-targeted shootings, such as those in
Parkland, Florida and Santa Fe, Texas.
K-12 School Shootings by Kind, School Years 2009-10 through 2018-19
The shooter in about half of school shootings was a student or former student; in
the other half, the shooter had no relationship to the school, was a parent,
teacher, or staff, or his or her relationship to the school was unknown, according
to the data. When the shooting was 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 someone other than a
student in the majority of cases. For about one-fifth of cases, the shooter’s
relationship to the school was not known. (See figure.)
View GAO-20-455. For more information,
contact
Jacqueline M. Nowicki at (617) 788-
Why GAO Did This Study
In addition to the potential loss of
life, school shootings can evoke
feelings of profound fear and anxiety
that disturb a community’s sense of
safety and security. Questions have
been raised about whether schools’
approaches to addressing student
behavior are a factor in school
shootings. These approaches
include discipline that removes the
offending students from the
classroom or school, and
preventative approaches meant to
change student behaviors before
problems arise.
GAO was asked to examine school
shootings, including the link between
discipline and shootings. This report
examines 1) the characteristics of
school shootings and affected
schools, and 2) what is known about
the link between discipline and
school shootings. To do so, GAO
analyzed data on school shootings
and school characteristics for school
years 2009-10 through 2018-19; and
conducted a literature review to
identify empirical research from
2009 to 2019 that examined
discipline approaches in school, and
the effects of these approaches on
outcomes of school gun violence,
school violence, or school safety.
GAO also interviewed selected
researchers to gather perspectives
about challenges and limitations in
conducting research on school
discipline and school shootings.