Every shooting at a school in June 2024

Averted plots, kids shot on school playgrounds, and a student murdered during a lunchtime fight in the school parking lot remains unsolved a month later.

A combination of red flag laws, accessible public reporting systems, background checks, and proactive policing prevented two planned school shootings in San Antonio, TX in June.

Without a nationwide system for reporting averted attacks, it’s hard to know how many of these plots are stopped each month. I’ve documented 184 averted school shooting plots since 2018 that are detailed in a peer-reviewed paper that’s been under review since last November (who knows if it will ever see the light of day).

Anonymous tips led police to a 19-year-old who "kept a dozen or so journals" in which he "detailed fantasies and plans for school shootings." He attempted to purchase a shotgun twice, and had both an AR-15 and homemade explosive devices in his home.

“The tipster reported that he has severe emotional issues, idolizes violence and school shootings, and that he may emulate infamous prior mass shooters,” the document said. 

His school shooting plot followed the Columbine-template of also targeting first responders.

A second 19-year-old was arrested for a separate plot to kill himself and at least 12 other people. Like most school shooters and mass shooters, he was actively suicidal and posting online about his plans before the attack.

Both of these averted attacks are similar to the circumstances leading up to the CVPA High school shooting in St. Louis in 2022. In June, the shooter’s manifesto was released. I recorded a podcast with Dr. Jillian Peterson to discuss his writings and the missed opportunities for prevention.

As schools shift to the summer schedule, many teachers and school staff are completing training programs. During “School Guardian” training for armed school staff in Palm Beach, FL, an unidentified school employee shot themselves.

Local news coverage

Also in June, CNN invited me to publish an article about AI and school security—I study school shootings. Here’s what AI can — and can’t — do to stop them. Schools sit at the brink between a troubled past and a safer future. AI can either inhibit or enable how we get there. The choice is ours.

Also in June, the FBI released their annual summary of “active shooter” incidents across the United States. I wrote an article about the findings in the FBI report and another article about the seven “active shooters” at k-12 schools that the FBI forgot to include.

A couple days after publishing these articles, I got an email from the FBI asking for a copy of the K-12 School Shooting Database.

I also learned that the FBI agents who work with local police to investigate school shooting threats are in a different management tree from the analysts who write the FBI’s annual reports. Per my sources, there is minimal communication and information sharing within the FBI between their operational and analytical teams. Even with this stovepiped org structure, it still shocks me that an agency with $11,300,000,000 budget—$11.3 BILLION—can’t conduct basic information collection.

New Content this Summer

As most schools are on summer break, I have a bunch of new content planned for July and early August including:

• What high schools can learn about security at football and large public gatherings from special events and festivals

• Results of my school security survey for parents

• Summary of a new dataset of students caught with guns during the 2023-24 school year

• Breakdown of trends with shootings on campus in the 2023-24 school year

• Weekly episodes of the Back to School Shootings podcast

Checkout my podcast!

Trends in June 2024

The number of shootings on school property in June 2024 is the highest total this month across the last decade.

Similarly, the number of victims killed or wounded during these shootings is the second highest total.

As the school year comes to an end, the time period of these incidents shifted to “not a school day” (weekday when the school is not open), evening, and night. Due to late sunset and hot temperatures, community members are on campus late into the evening using the playground and recreational facilities.

Night was the time period when shots were fired shortly after 9 p.m. near P.S. 178 in New York. Two girls (9- and 11-years old) were playing in the school field as their mothers watched from a nearby bench. Six rounds were fired in the children's direction, hitting the 9-year-old in the leg and the 11-year-old in the back. Based on the bullet casings found at the scene, investigators believe there were multiple shooters who fired in the direction of the children who were not their intended targets.

In 2024—like all other months—parking lots continue to be the most common location for a shooting on campus.

So far in 2024, 175 shootings at schools have taken place in 43 different states. This is a uniquely American problem that impacts all types and sizes of communities in every part of the country,

Interactive Map

Every Shooting in June 2024

• 6/23/2024: Warring Elementary School, Poughkeepsie, PA

  • Not a School Day, Playground

  • Man shot on school playground

• 6/21/2024: Bridge Creek Elementary School, Elgin, SC

  • Evening, Parking Lot

  • Teen playing with water gun was shot by a teen with a real gun outside the school