Alarming Start to 2014 As United States is Rocked by 9 School Shootings in January (so far)

The first four weeks of 2014 were rocked by nine school shootings in just 18 school days across the United States (Peck, 2014).  Shootings occurred at elementary, middle, high and post-secondary school levels. Schools that experienced mass casualty intended shootings, in order:
 Liberty Technology Magnet High School
 Berrendo Middle School
 Albany High School
 Delaware Valley Charter Elementary
 Widener University
 Wakefield Elementary
 Purdue University
 South Carolina State University
 Roosevelt High School

It is important to note that there were a total of 28 K-16 school shootings in all of 2013.  The country is on pace for 108 school shootings for 2014!

Two questions and 15 minutes can help to keep your school prepared for a school attack.  School administrators, select a school shooting from the list above that matches your school level and review an article or two with details about the event (just set up a GOOGLE ALERT  for “School Shooting” and you will receive concise daily headlines emailed to you for that topic).  Share the article with your cabinet or crisis team and ask, “How could we decrease the probability of a similar event at our school?”  Follow-up by asking how your school would respond if such an incident happened in your building?

Peck, Adam. (January 28, 2014). Think Progress.

BELOW:  Pie graph representing school shootings by level from January 1-28, 2014.