Honestly, if you’re looking for a single, clean number for how many school shootings in 2024, you’re probably going to end up more confused than when you started. It’s a mess. Depending on which news outlet or database you click on, the total might look like 39, or it might look like 336. That is a massive gap.
It's not that people are lying to you. It's that everyone is using a different yardstick. Some groups only count it if someone actually dies. Others count it if a bullet just hits the brick on a school wall at 2:00 AM on a Saturday. Because of that, the conversation about school safety often feels like people are speaking different languages.
Defining the Undefinable
We have to look at the definitions. It’s the only way to make sense of why the numbers for how many school shootings in 2024 vary so wildly.
The K-12 School Shooting Database, which is run by David Riedman, is basically the gold standard for "total incidents." They recorded 336 school shootings in 2024. To them, if a gun is fired, brandished, or a bullet hits school property, it goes on the list. Period. It doesn't matter if it was a suicide in the parking lot or a gang fight that spilled over after a basketball game.
Then you’ve got Education Week. They’re a bit more specific. They only track incidents where a firearm was discharged on K-12 property and at least one person (other than the shooter) was injured or killed. By their count, there were 39 school shootings in 2024.
Think about that for a second. That means there were nearly 300 incidents where a gun was involved at a school, but because nobody got hit or died, they don't make the "narrow" list.
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The Grim Highlights of 2024
The year started off heavy. On January 4th, just as kids were getting back from winter break, a shooting at Perry High School in Iowa left a sixth-grader dead and several others wounded. It felt like a punch to the gut for the whole country.
Then came September 4th. Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. That was the one that truly dominated the news cycle. Two students and two teachers were killed. It was the deadliest incident of the year.
And then, right before Christmas on December 16th, there was the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Wisconsin. Two people died, and six were hurt.
What the Trends Are Actually Telling Us
If you look at the raw data from the last few years, 2024 was actually a bit of a "dip"—if you can even call it that. In 2023, the K-12 School Shooting Database recorded 349 incidents. So, 336 is technically a decrease. But when you realize that 25 years ago we were seeing maybe 30 or 40 incidents a year, the "improvement" feels pretty hollow.
We are currently living through the highest era of school-related gun violence since record-keeping began in 1966. The years 2021 through 2024 represent a sustained peak that educators and parents are struggling to navigate.
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Most of these aren't the "active shooter" scenarios you see in movies, either.
- Fights that escalate: This is the big one. A lot of these "shootings" are actually just two people getting into a beef in a parking lot or a hallway, and someone happens to have a gun.
- Outside vs. Inside: Roughly two-thirds of these incidents happened outside on the campus—parking lots, football fields, front steps.
- The "Contagion Effect": Researchers often talk about how one high-profile shooting leads to a massive spike in swatting (fake reports) and copycat threats.
The Impact Nobody Talks About
We talk about the body count, but we rarely talk about the "exposure."
Research from groups like KFF shows that student exposure to school shootings has tripled since the Columbine era. Even if a kid isn't in the room where it happens, the lockdowns, the sirens, and the "active shooter drills" are changing the way an entire generation thinks about school.
In states like Delaware and Washington D.C., the rates of exposure per 100,000 students are significantly higher than the national average. It’s not just a "big state" problem. It’s a proximity problem.
What Schools Are Doing (and if it works)
Schools are "hardening." We're talking metal detectors, AI-powered gun detection software like Omnilert or ZeroEyes, and "single-point entry" systems.
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But here’s the kicker: even with all that tech, 2024 saw the second-highest number of incidents on record. Some experts argue that while the tech might catch a gun at the door, it doesn't do much for the fight that breaks out in the parking lot after a Friday night game.
Making Sense of it All
So, how many school shootings in 2024 were there? If you want the number of times a community was traumatized by gunfire on campus, it’s 336. If you’re looking for the number of times students or staff were actually wounded or killed, it’s 39.
Both numbers are too high.
There’s a lot of debate on how to fix this. Some people want more "red flag" laws and secure storage requirements (since many school shooters get the gun from home). Others want more armed guards and "hardened" facilities.
What we do know is that the "wait and see" approach isn't working. If you're a parent or an educator, the most important thing you can do right now is get involved with your school's threat assessment team. Real prevention usually happens long before a gun ever reaches the parking lot. It happens when a student's "cry for help" or a social media threat is actually taken seriously and handled with mental health resources rather than just a suspension.
Check your school’s safety plan. Ask about their de-escalation training. Data shows that most 2024 incidents started as simple disputes—learning how to settle those without violence is a bigger part of the solution than most people realize.