The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has released "Five Facts About Mass Shootings in K–12 Schools," a fact sheet highlighting research on mass shootings in school settings and ways to detect, prevent, and respond to them.
The five facts are:
- Most people who commit a mass shooting are in crisis leading up to it and are likely to leak their plans to others, presenting opportunities for intervention.
- Everyone can help prevent school mass shootings.
- Threat assessment is a promising prevention strategy to assess and respond to mass shooting threats, as well as other threats of violence by students.
- Individuals who commit a school shooting are most likely to obtain a weapon by theft from a family member, indicating a need for more secure firearm storage practices.
- The overwhelming majority of individuals who commit K–12 mass shootings struggle with various aspects of mental well-being.
RESOURCES:
- See OJJDP's Model Programs Guide to learn about programs promoting school safety.
- View the SchoolSafety.gov federal school safety website.
- Read NIJ's "Five Things" series for research and evaluation on a variety of topics.
- Follow OJJDP on Twitter and Facebook.
Date Published: August 25, 2022