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The Deadliest K-12 U.S. School Shootings, Ranked
By Ashley Haugen,
2 days ago
It’s no secret that gun violence is rampant in the United States, and according to World Population Review, the U.S. takes the blue ribbon when it comes to the most school shootings in the world. In fact, according to the American Journal of Medicine, school shootings are 41 times more likely in the United States than in any other developed nation.
The Washington Post reports that more than 348,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since the Columbine shootings in Littleton, CO, back in 1999. To put things into perspective, there are currently 115,171 schools in the United States, and in 2022 alone, there were 300 mass shootings in American K-12 schools.
Here, we’re looking at the deadliest school shootings (excluding colleges) in the U.S. between 1982 and September 2024. Data was sourced from Statista.com.
On November 30, 2021, gunman Ethan Robert Crumbley, armed with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun, opened fire at Oxford High School in Oxford Township, Michigan. Crumbley killed four students and injured seven others. Crumbley was charged with terrorism causing death, first-degree murder, assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Crumbley was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and is serving his time in Manistee, Michigan at the Oaks Correctional Facility. Both of Crumbley’s parents were charged with involuntary manslaughter and were sentenced to 15 years in prison for failing to secure the weapon. They will be eligible for parole after serving 10 years.
On September 4, 2024, Colt Gray, a 14-year-old student at Apalachee High School in Winder, GA, killed two students and two teachers. Gray was charged with four counts of felony murder. His father, Colin, was also taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter for having purchased the weapon used in the shooting and giving it to his son for a holiday gift the year before.
On May 1, 1992, Eric Houston, a 20-year-old former student at Lindhurst High in Olivehurst, CA, shot and killed three students and one teacher. He also wounded nine other students and a teacher. Houston cited the fact that he’d lost his job and hadn’t graduated high school as the motive behind the shootings. He was sentenced to death and is currently on death row at San Quinten State Prison.
Fifteen-year-old gunman Kipland Kinkel had been struggling with hearing voices urging him to commit violent acts since he was 12 years old. And on May 20, 1998, he gave in, killing both of his parents before entering Thurston High School in Springfield, OR, the next day and killing two of his classmates and wounding 25 others. Kinkel was sentenced to more than 111 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
Jaylen Fryberg invited his victims to lunch in the cafeteria at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Marysville, WA, ensuring that they were all together at his intended time of attack. And on October 24, 2014, the 15-year-old freshman followed through on his plan, pulling out a .40-caliber Beretta Px4 Storm Subcompact handgun and shooting them in a calm and methodical way. Fryberg killed five of his friends before turning the gun on himself. His father, Raymond, was later arrested and convicted, charged with illegally purchasing and owning the gun his son used to murder his peers.
Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, opened fire at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on March 24, 1998, killing five people and injuring 10 others. The pair loaded up Johnson’s mother’s minivan with nine weapons and other survival supplies. The guns and 2,000 rounds of ammunition had been stolen from Golden’s grandfather’s house. They were tried as juveniles and were some of the youngest people to ever be charged with murder in the United States. They were both released on their 21st birthdays.
On January 17, 1989, 24-year-old Patrick Purdy arrived at Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, CA. He parked his station wagon, which contained a Molotov cocktail that later detonated in front of more than 300 schoolchildren. Purdy then entered the schoolyard, wielding a semi-automatic rifle and two handguns and began shooting in a spraying motion. He killed five children, ages 6-9 and injured 31 others before shooting and killing himself.
On October 2, 2006, Charles Carl Roberts IV entered the West Nickel Mines one-room Amish schoolhouse in Bart Township, PA, and took hostages before shooting and killing six girls ages 6-13. He then turned the gun on himself. The husband and father of three left four different suicide notes that attempted to explain his motives.
On March 27, 2023, 28-year-old Aiden Hale entered The Covenant School in Nashville, TN, and killed three 9-year-old students and three employees. A former student of the school, Hale left behind a manifesto that seemed to illustrate a struggle with mental illness. Hale was killed by police but not before firing off more than 150 rounds of ammunition.
Sixteen-year-old Jeff Weise murdered his grandfather and his grandfather’s girlfriend on March 21, 2005. His grandfather was an Ojibwe tribal police sergeant, whose weapons and bulletproof vest Weise stole after the murders. He then proceeded to Red Lake Senior High School in Red Lake, MN, where he was previously a student. There, he shot and killed seven people — a security guard, teach and five students — and injured nine others. After a short exchange of gunfire, Weise retreated to a classroom where he took his own life.
On May 18, 2018, Dimitrios Pagourtzis entered Santa Fe High School just outside of Houston, TX, armed with a 12-gauge Remington Model 870 pump-action shotgun, a Rossi .38 caliber revolver and more than 180 rounds of ammunition. He began firing in the art building and in total, he murdered eight students and two teachers, and injured 13 others, thus carrying out the eighth-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. The 17-year-old was a former student at the high school. Pagourtzis has repeatedly been found incompetent to stand trial and has been held in a mental hospital since the time of the shooting.
Arguably one of the most well-known school shootings in American history, the Columbine High School massacre took place on the campus of the Littleton, CO, high school. Seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had spent the better part of a year planning the shooting and on April 20, 1999, they carried out their plans, murdering 12 students and one teacher as well as injuring 24 others before taking their own lives.
On Valentine’s Day, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, armed with a legally purchased AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle, entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, and opened fire killing 17 people and injuring 17 others. Among the dead were 14 students and three staff members. Cruz is now serving a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole.
On May 24, 2022, Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old former student, entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, murdering 19 students and 2 teachers and injuring 17 others. His weapon of choice was an AR-15-style rifle with seven 30-round magazines. Ramos was killed after an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement.
On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza carried out the deadliest elementary school shoot in American history. Prior to the school massacre, Lanza murdered his mother at their home in Newtown, CT. He then proceeded to Sandy Hook Elementary, where he killed 20 students between the ages of 6-7 and six adult staff members. As law enforcement began to arrive at the scene, Lanza took his life with a gunshot to the head.
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