Safe School Initiative

*Joint Message from the Secretary, U.S. Department of Education, and the Director, U.S. Secret Service:

 

"Littleton, Colorado; Springfield, Oregon; West Paducah, Kentucky; Jonesboro, Arkansas. These communities have become familiar to many Americans as the locations where school shootings have occurred in recent years. School shootings are a rare, but significant, component of school violence in America. It is clear that other kinds of problems are far more common than the targeted attacks that have taken place in schools across this country. However, each school-based attacks has had a tremendous and lasting effect on the school in which it occurred, the surrounding community, and the nation as a whole. In the aftermath of these tragic events, educators, law enforcement officials, mental health professionals, parents, and others have asked: "Could we have known that these attacks were being planned?" and, "What can be done to prevent future attacks from occurring?""

 

"In June 1999, following the attack at Columbine High School, our two agencies-the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education-launched a collaborative effort to begin to answer these questions. The result was the Safe School Initiative, an extensive examination of 37 incidents of targeted school shootings and school attacks that have occurred in the United States beginning with the earliest identified incident in 1974 and through June 2000. The focus of the Safe School Initiative was on examining the thinking, planning, and other behaviors engaged in by students who carried out school attacks. Particular attention was given to identifying pre-attack behaviors and communications that might be detectable- or "knowable" -and could help in preventing some future attacks.""

 

Statistics

U.S. Secret Service & U.S. Department of Education’s Safe School Initiative studied 37 incidents of of targeted school violence involving 41 attackers in US schools from 1974 to June 2000, and examined the attacker’s pre-incident thinking and behavior for lethal behaviors at a school. Some statistics from the Safe School Initiative research:

 

1993-1997, Grades 9th-13th:

  • 7-8% threatened or injured with a weapon
  • 15% getting into a physical fight
  • 1 in a million die by homicide or suicide

 

95% of the attackers were current students of the school attacked:

  • 5% of the attackers were former students of the school attacked
  • 100% of the incidents examined were committed by boys or young men (n = 41)

 

81% of the attackers carried out attack alone:

  • 11% of the attackers engaged attack on his own, but had assistance in planning the attack
  • 8% of the attacks, 2 or more attackers carried out the attack together

 

61% of the attackers used handguns:

  • 49% of the attackers used rifles or shotguns
  • 76% of the attackers used only one weapon to harm their victims, although 46% had more than one weapon with them at time of attack

 

54% of the attacks involved at least 1 school administrator, faculty member or staff member as a target:

  • 41% of the attacks involved students chosen as targets
  • 44% of the attacks involved more than 1 target chosen prior to attack

 

73% of the attackers had grievances against at least 1 of their targets prior to the attack:

  • 46% of the attacks, individuals who were targeted prior to the attack also became victims and harmed in the attack
  • 57% of the attacks, other individuals not identified as original targets, were injured or killed as well

                        - 57% were students

                        - 39% were school administrators, faculty or staff

 

10 Key Findings

  1. Rarely sudden, impulsive acts

  2. Prior to most incidents, other’s knew about attacker’s idea and/or plans to attack

  3. Most attackers did not threaten their targets prior to advancing the attack

  4. No accurate of useful “profile” of attackers

  5. Most engage in some behavior, prior to the incident, that caused concern or indicated need for help

  6. Most were known to have difficulty coping with significant losses or personal failures, many had considered or attempted suicide

  7. Many felt bullied, persecuted, or injured by others prior to attack

  8. Most had access to and had used weapons prior to attack

  9. In many cases, other students were involved in some capacity

  10. Most shooting incidents were stopped by means other than law enforcement intervention

 

* The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States. United States Secret Service and United States Department of Education, Washington, D.C., May 2002.