Graduation shootings and a near miss in Michigan
Two men were arrested after stashing an AR-pistol with a high-capacity magazine and a modified Glock with a 40-round magazine under a car outside an Oakland, MI high school graduation.
Shots were fired during a fight at Burnsville High School (south Minneapolis suburbs) after the graduation ceremony last night (May 6). Police were already at the school breaking up another fight when officers heard the shots fired near the school’s stadium. Luckily nobody was wounded and officers arrested four people involved.
This shooting is exactly a week after two people—a teen and a parent—were shot at the Wayzata High School graduation held at the University of Minnesota campus arena.
Last week in Oakland, MI, police got a tip when they broke up a fight during the Arts and Technology School of Pontiac graduation ceremony. Attendees told officers that a SnapChat was posted with a threat to shoot-up the ceremony. Officers found a bag with a modified Glock handgun and an AR-style pistol, each with loaded 40 round magazines, stashed under a car in the parking lot.
The Glock pistol has a laser sight and appears to have an aftermarket “switch” for automatic fire.
Michigan police believe they may have prevented a mass shooting from happening when the ceremony ended. Unlike a suicidal student who commits a mass shooting as a final act of desperation during a mental health crisis, both men arrested have a history of violent crime and the shooting plot appears to be connected with ongoing disputes with other adults.
Multiple police officers and private security were working at each of these ceremonies when the fights started.
If you missed my article last year, it’s worth reviewing the After Action Report from the mass shooting at a high school graduation in Richmond, VA.
Virginia school officials tried to block the release of the 30-page report that details lack of planning, 'siloed' information about threats of violence, and staff not following mandatory threat reporting procedures.
Looking back at 2024
Graduation should be a time to celebrate the accomplishments of students, but these ceremonies turned into a “warzone” five times last year—plus one close call with an armed parent/relative.
Oakland, CA: Two people were shot inside Skyline High School during a graduation ceremony (May 23). The shooting stemmed from a dispute between adults.
Cape Girardeau, MO: Two people were shot during a Sunday afternoon high school graduation when a dispute between adults at the concession stand escalated into a shooting (May 19). The crowd evacuated the building, the remainder of the ceremony was cancelled, and classes were also cancelled the following day.
Kansas City, MO: Shots fired during a high school graduation on Saturday afternoon (May 18) as students were walking across the stage. The crowd ran for cover and the remainder of the ceremony was cancelled.
Boiling Springs, SC: A 52-year-old man pulled out a gun and pointed it at two people. He then used a baton to break the window of their car during a road rage dispute when the traffic backed up in the parking lot of Boiling Springs High following graduation (May 18).
Cincinnati, OH: An 18-year-old who graduated earlier that evening was killed in school parking lot during an unauthorized grad party attended by a large group of students late on Friday night (May 18). 40 shots were fired.
Albuquerque, NM: Mother was shot inside the auditorium during an evening graduation ceremony (May 8). She was reaching to hug her stepson when she was shot in the neck.
When kids have been doing active shooter lockdown drills in their classrooms since kindergarten, it’s depressingly predictable that their last moments as a k-12 student are spent running from gunfire.
David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database, Chief Data Officer at a global risk management firm, and a tenure-track professor. Listen to my weekly podcast—Back to School Shootings—or my recent interviews on Freakonomics Radio, New England Journal of Medicine, and my article on CNN about AI and school security.