Episode 6: What is the definition of a 'school shooting' and why does it matter?

Host: David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database.

Guest: Dr. Benjamin P. Comer, Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice at Texas Christian University.

Paper: Definitional Discrepancies: Defining “School Shootings” and Other Incidents of Gunfire Affecting Schools

We discussed:

• How the K-12 School Shooting Databased started.

• Landscape of ~30 different info sources about school shootings from the “Columbine’s Angels” blog in the 1990s to anonymized government reports that omit school names.

• Definitions run amuck when the US Secret Service excludes a sniper firing 240 rounds at a school because the shooter was not on school property when the shots were fired.

• Broad data collection creates the foundation for many different projects and types of research.

• Five recommendations for reconciling the differences and using a standardized methodology for research going forward.

• If we misunderstand the baseline—99% of shootings at schools are not mass shootings—we create policies designed for 1% of gun violence which are misaligned with the most common circumstances on campus.

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David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database. Listen to my recent interviews on Freakonomics Radio, New England Journal of Medicine, and my article on CNN about AI and school security.