Every shooting at a school in May 2024

Gun violence at schools in May ranged from a Columbine-inspired attack in Wisconsin to a nine shootings at high school graduation ceremonies or post-grad parties on campus.

On May 1, police were called for an active shooter at Mount Horeb Middle in rural Wisconsin. Officers spotted a teen outside of the school with a long black rifle and killed him when he didn’t comply with commands. Four days later, police provided an update that the rifle was a $100 pellet gun available at Walmart and Amazon.

The teen’s online posts described himself as “addicted to Columbine”, detailed his visit to the location of a school shooting, and showed his desire to get an AR-15 rifle. He posted “my last morning” just before taking the pellet gun to school. This teen had the intent and desire to be a school shooter but fortunately he lacked access to a deadly weapon.

In May, I finally released the first episode of the Back to School Shooting podcast. The format of my podcast is a 30-minute uncut interview with experts from all kinds of fields that impact school security including education, policing, criminology, public health, mental health, terrorism, and technology. New episodes will be released every other week for the foreseeable future. You can find it here or on any podcast app.

https://k12ssdb.substack.com/podcast

Here is a rundown of some topics that I covered in May:

• Ohio is buying mobile shoot houses to train armed teachers

• Gun violence at high school graduations

• Should I stay or should I go? Combined shooting and bombing threats at schools

• Who fires a gun at a school? Data science provides eight archetypes of shooters

• What happened during the school shooting at Mount Horeb Middle in rural Wisconsin

• Missed the warning signs (again) to prevent a school shooting in Wisconsin

• Part 3 and Part 4 of the noise audit for school shooting threat assessments

A noteworthy shooting that only got local media coverage happened in Washington, DC on May 3. A female student was inside her classroom standing at the teacher’s desk when she was struck by a bullet that was fired outside. Video shows a dozen bullet holes in the windows of the school. The shots were fired by teens fighting outside while class was in session.

The pattern of bullet holes from the 1st to 2nd to 3rd floor show the teen probably had a Glock handgun equipped with a ‘switch’ for automatic fire. As he held down the trigger, the gun fired continuously as the recoil pulled it upward.

Shooting in May 2013-2024

The number of incidents in May 2024 continues to show the increasing trend over the last 3 years. The good news is there is not an exponential increase in the number of shootings from 2023 to 2024.

The number of victims in May 2024 is higher than 2023 but significantly lower than 2022. In May 2022, 19 students and 2 teachers were killed in Uvalde, TX. 21 other students and staff members were injured.

The location of shootings in May 2024 follows the same pattern as other months as parking lots continue to be the most likely place for incidents to occur.

The time period shifted in May 2024 with the most shootings happening at night and during school events—mainly high school graduations and end of year ceremonies. Two of the shootings at night were during unauthorized post-graduation parties when large groups of students gathered on campus. Even if these parties are not sanctioned by the school, it is predictable that students will gather on campus and police should be proactive about patrolling after these events.

If it’s predictable, it’s preventable!

There were plenty of random incidents that happened at schools too. On May 23, an unidentified person used a pellet rifle to break windows at Whittier Elementary School in Butte, MT. While nobody was hurt, this intentional property damage is unnerving for students, staff, and parents. In the months before shooting 11 people at Cleveland Elementary in 1979, Brenda Spencer shot the windows of the school with a pellet rifle.

Shootings at schools in May 2024

5/31/2024: Arthur Hill High School, Saginaw, MI

Outside on School Property

Man shot during late night party on campus after graduation