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All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You'd better run, better run
Outrun my gun
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You'd better run, better run
Faster than my bullet
~ Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People, a song about school shootings.

A school shooting is an attack on an educational institution, most commonly a school or university, using one or more firearm.

File:REB & V.jpg
Columbine shooters on Eric Harris (left) and Dylan Klebold (right) on CCTV.

School shootings are especially common in the United States, but they can occur in other countries as well. It manifests as a student simply shooting a classmate or teacher in revenge to large scale bombings and/or mass shootings.

The shooter(s) often commits suicide after they are finished with their attack, although some have surrendered to or been killed by police. Suicidal school shooters typically made martyrdom videos; typically explaining their act(s) and ranting about bullies.

File:Virginia Tech shooting Footage
Seung-Hui Cho shoots up Virginia Tech - News

School shootings have became much more common in the 21st Century.

Causes

  • Bullying (peer victimization, peer pressure, cyberbullying, etc.) which can cause depression and/or personality disorders. For that matter, the shooter may (sometimes also) be a bully themselves, often by taunting their victims.
  • Revenge against teachers for punishing the shooter unfairly
  • Mental illness (sometimes without cause)
  • Misanthropy
  • Expulsion from the school
  • Notoriety (wanting to gain widespread recognition for their actions)
  • Political tension
  • Xenophobia (targeting specific racial groups out of hatred, usually the belief that Caucasians are superior to all other races)
  • They have been physically abused at home.

Examples

A list of various school shootings based on perpetrator's fate.

Perpetrator(s) School Date Fatalities Injuries Location Kill to Wound Ratio (Perpetrator's Death(s) Excluded) Fate
Dimitrios Pagourtzis Santa Fe High School May 18th, 2018 10 13 Santa Fe, Texas, U.S. 10:13 Arrested; Still awaiting conviction
Nikolas Cruz Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School February 14th, 2018 17 17 Parkland, Florida, U.S. 1:1 Arrested; Still awaiting conviction
Luke Woodham Pearl High School October 1st, 1997 2 (including his mother) 7 Pearl, Mississippi, U.S. 2:7 Life in prison
Charles Whitman University of Texas August 1st, 1966 16 32

Austin, Texas,

U.S.

1:2 Killed by Police
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold Columbine High School April 20th, 1999 13 21

Columbine, Colorado,

U.S.

13:21 Both Committed Suicide
Seung-Hui Cho Virginia Tech University April 16th, 2007 32 17

Blacksburg, Virginia,


U.S.

22:29 Suicide
Adam Lanza Sandy Hook Elementary School December 14th, 2012 27 (including his mother) 2

Newtown, Connecticut,

U.S.

27:2 Suicide
Tim Kretschmer Albertville Realschule  and Wendlingen shootout March 11th, 2009 15 9 Winnenden, Germany 5:3 Suicide
Pekka-Eric Auvinen Jokela High School November 7th, 2007 8 1 Tuusula, Finland 8:1 Suicide
Jeff Weise Red Lake High School March 21st, 2005 9 5

Red Lake, Minnesota,

U.S.

9:5 Suicide
TJ Lane Chardon High School February 27th, 2012 3 3 Chardon, Ohio,


U.S.

3:3 Life in prison
Brenda Spencer Cleveland Elementary School January 29th, 1979 2 9 San Diego, California,


U.S.

Life in prison
Christopher Harper-Mercer Umpqua Community College October 1st, 2015 9 8 Roseburg, Oregon


U.S.

2:1 Suicide
Vladislav Roslyakov Kerch Polytechnic College October 17th, 2018 20 70 Kerch, Crimea Suicide
Barry Loukaitis Frontier Middle School February 2nd, 1996 3 1 Moses Lake, Washington


U.S.

3:1 Life in prison
Trystan Andrew Terrell University of North Carolina at Charlotte April 30th, 2019 2 4 Charlotte, North Carolina


U.S.

2:4 Arrested; Still awaiting conviction
Steven Kazmierczak Northern Illinois University February 14th, 2008 5 17 DeKalb, Illinois


U.S.

Suicide
Kip Kinkel Thurston High School May 21st, 1998 4 (including his parents) 25 Springfield, Oregon


U.S.

Life in prison
Robert Steinhäuser Gutenberg-Gymnasium Secondary School April 26th, 2002 16 1 Erfut, Germany Suicide


U.S.

Federico Guevara Elizondo Colegio Americano del Noreste January 18th, 2017 1 3 Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico Suicide