ÌÇÐ͝Âþvlog

School Climate & Safety Interactive

The School Shootings of 2019: What’s Behind the Numbers

By Education Week Staff — December 18, 2019 | Updated: February 28, 2020 | Corrected: October 25, 2021 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Corrected: A shooting during a high school football game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala., on Aug. 30, 2019, has been removed from this tracker. The incident occurred on a property that is owned by the city of Mobile, not the school district.

In 2019, eight people were killed and 32 were injured in 24 shooting incidents that occurred on school grounds or during school-sponsored events, according to Education Week’s school shooting tracker. This is the second year Education Week has kept count of school shootings that killed or injured people. While the death and injury tolls are smaller than in 2018 when there were two mass school shootings, in Parkland, Fla., and Santa Fe, Texas, the devastation to school communities and families is no less profound. In 10 incidents, gunfire erupted during or just after school-sponsored athletic events, exposing critical vulnerabilities K-12 leaders face in keeping students, staff, and community members safe from violence outside school buildings and outside the hours of the regular school day. Six times this year, high school football games were the venue for a shooting that injured multiple people and sent spectators into a panic. In one incident, a 10-year-old boy attending a high school football game in New Jersey was shot and later died.

For the most recent data on school shootings, click here.

2019 TOTALS

web shooting tracker 109 totals update

WHERE THE SHOOTINGS HAPPENED

Ten shootings took place during, or just after, a high school sporting event where, in some cases, hundreds of panicked people fled the sounds of gunfire. The year’s deadliest school shooting was in a Santa Clarita, Calif., high school, where a 16-year-old male student killed two classmates and injured three others before shooting and killing himself.

Size of the dots correlates to the number of victims. Click on each dot for more information.

TIMES AND PLACES INCIDENTS OCCURRED

Eleven shootings took place during the regular school day, and 10 shootings occurred in evenings during a school-sponsored athletic event. Two shootings involved school buses.

web shooting tracker 109 location update2

ABOUT THE SUSPECTS

This year, the number of school shooters who were students was similar to the number of school shooters who were not students. But because school shooters are often students, safety experts recommend that schools invest in prevention efforts, not just hardening security.

web shooting tracker 109 suspects update

THOSE KILLED IN SCHOOL SHOOTINGS IN 2019

Eight people—4 of them under the age of 18—died in school shootings in 2019. One victim’s identity has not been released. Of the known victims, the youngest was 10. The oldest was 48.

CONTACT INFORMATION

For media or research inquiries about this page, contact library@educationweek.org.

Related:

• The Heartbreaking Work of Tracking School Shootings
• The School Shootings of 2018: What’s Behind the Numbers
• Should Schools Be Able to Detect Every Would-Be Shooter?
• How Gun Violence Is Changing Friday Night Football
• A 10-Year-Old’s Shooting Death and the Challenge Schools Face Keeping Football Games Safe

Contributors: Evie Blad, Stacey Decker, Hyon-Young Kim, Kathleen Kennedy Manzo, Lesli A. Maxwell, Holly Peele, and Denisa R. Superville
Design & Visualization: Marty Barrick
Images: Getty

Events

College & Workforce Readiness Webinar How High Schools Can Prepare Students for College and Career
Explore how schools are reimagining high school with hands-on learning that prepares students for both college and career success.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
GoGuardian and Google: Proactive AI Safety in Schools
Learn how to safely adopt innovative AI tools while maintaining support for student well-being. 
Content provided by 
Reading & Literacy K-12 Essentials Forum Supporting Struggling Readers in Middle and High School
Join this free virtual event to learn more about policy, data, research, and experiences around supporting older students who struggle to read.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

School Climate & Safety Two Children, Ages 8 and 10, Killed in Minneapolis School Shooting
Seventeen people were injured in the new academic year's first school shooting.
Parents await news during an active shooter situation at the Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, Minn., on Aug. 27, 2025.
Parents await news during an active shooter situation at the Annunciation Church in Minneapolis on Aug. 27, 2025. This is the first school shooting of the new academic year.
Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP
School Climate & Safety Quiz Quiz Yourself: How Much Do You Know About Creating Inclusive Classrooms?
Answer 7 questions about creating inclusive classrooms for students.
School Climate & Safety Sandy Hook Survivor: Teachers Need a Louder Voice in School Safety Debates
Aspiring teachers also need the opportunity to talk about gun violence during their time in college, Abbey Clements said.
6 min read
Abbey Clements, of Newton, Conn., speaks during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago.
Abbey Clements, of Newton, Conn., speaks during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. Clements co-founded an advocacy group, Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence, to amplify teachers' voices on issues like gun control.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
School Climate & Safety What Makes Schools Safe? Researchers Outline These 4 Key Recommendations
Researchers distilled dozens of studies to create practical school safety recommendations.
5 min read
Pictures of the Week North America Photo Gallery 23236807597084
Melissa Alvarez hugs her son, Ignacio, then 2, during a special session of the state legislature on public safety on Aug. 23, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn., following a deadly school shooting that March. New research drawing on scores of studies identifies some of the most important steps schools can take to stop violence on their campuses.
George Walker IV/AP