Originally Posted by
Dan Druff
Regarding mass school shootings when I was a student, let's look at the link you posted.
I entered elementary school in September 1977, and graduated high school in June 1990 -- 13 school years.
Let's look at the school shootings in that time period which resulted in more than 2 deaths and/or 8 injuries:
- January 29, 1979, San Diego, 2 dead, 9 injured. A 16-year-old female shooter opened fire on an elementary school from across the street.
- February 1984, Los Angeles, 3 dead, 12 injured. A shooter was firing at students leaving school (so this technically wasn't a shooting at school, but we will ignore that), and then shot himself dead.
- November 1985, Spanaway, WA, 3 dead, 0 injured. A crazy 14-year-old chick killed her ex-boyfriend and his buddy, and then killed herself. Doesn't count as a mass shooting, as this was a targeted murder.
- September 1988, Greenwood, SC, 2 dead, 9 injured. A 19-year-old entered an elementary school and started firing.
- January 1989, Stockton, CA, 6 dead, 32 injured. A 24-year-old man with a history of violence went into an elementary school and started firing, before killing himself.
Taking away the 1985 incident (which wasn't a mass shooting, as I stated), there were only 4 school shootings with more than 2 deaths or 8 injuries, across the entire US during my 13 years in school.
It should also be pointed out that the criminal incident causing the most injury in schools during those years didn't involve shooting -- it involved a bomb. In 1986, in Wyoming, a middle-aged couple took an elementary school hostage, and brought a bomb with them. The wife accidentally detonated the bomb, injuring herself and 73 students! The husband then shot her dead, shot an wounded a teacher, and shot himself dead. The bomb was obviously the thing doing the real damage here -- far more than the gun violence at the end (where only one was injured besides the two perpetrators).
These killers put time and planning into their crimes. If they can't do it with a gun, they will find some other way.