# 11 school shootings in the first 23 days of 2018 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 30, 2018, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778 "2018-01-30T02:50:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/1 "2018-01-30T02:50:42Z")
WTF is this country coming to? [School Shooting in Kentucky Was Nation’s 11th of Year. It Was Jan. 23.](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/us/kentucky-school-shooting.html) They’re barely making the headlines anymore. > [@](#): > > ATLANTA — On Tuesday, it was a high school in small-town Kentucky. On Monday, a school cafeteria outside Dallas and a charter school parking lot in New Orleans. And before that, a school bus in Iowa, a college campus in Southern California, a high school in Seattle. > > Gunfire ringing out in American schools used to be rare, and shocking. Now it seems to happen all the time. > > The scene in Benton, Ky., on Tuesday was the worst so far in 2018: Two 15-year-old students were killed and 18 more people were injured. But it was one of at least 11 shootings on school property recorded since Jan. 1, and roughly the 50th of the academic year. > > Researchers and gun control advocates say that since 2013, they have logged school shootings at a rate of about one a week. > > “We have absolutely become numb to these kinds of shootings, and I think that will continue,” said Katherine W. Schweit, a former senior F.B.I. official and the co-author of a study of 160 active shooting incidents in the United States. > > Some of the shootings at schools this year were suicides that injured no one else; some did not result in any injuries at all. But in the years since the massacres at Columbine High School in Colorado, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., gun safety advocates say, all school shootings seem to have lost some of their capacity to shock. > … “Lost the capacity to shock.” It leaves one speechless. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/2 "2018-01-30T02:53:43Z")
So you’re shocked? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/3 "2018-01-30T02:55:03Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > So you’re shocked? No, I’m not. No one is. THAT’S what’s disturbing. (But I think you knew the answer before you asked the question, amirite?) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/4 "2018-01-30T03:03:00Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > No, I’m not. No one is. THAT’S what’s disturbing. (But I think you knew the answer before you asked the question, amirite?) No; I meant “so you’re shocked that no one is shocked?” 😃 Sorry that wasn’t clear. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/5 "2018-01-30T03:14:48Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > No; I meant “so you’re shocked that no one is shocked?” 😃 Sorry that wasn’t clear. In truth, I’m not sure how I feel about 1) the shootings, 2) the fact that I didn’t know there had been 11 until I heard that story on NPR yesterday, 4) the fact that no one appears to be too shocked, 5) the fact that we’re getting used to them. Children should be safe in school. School should be a haven. I guess I’m trying to stir up some outrage in myself, but my reservoir of outrage is bone dry. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/6 "2018-01-30T03:47:12Z")
I think we all know what you mean, **ThelmaLou**. I was just trying some light-hearted juxtapositioning; sorry it fell flat. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/7 "2018-01-30T06:06:59Z")
I’m assuming that most, if not all, of the other shootings had no casualties or only minor injuries, and that’s why we didn’t hear about them until now. There was a shooting at my junior high in 1972; I went there a few years later, and I never knew about it until I read about it on that school’s Facebook page. A boy who was being bullied brought a rifle to school with a target in mind, and fired a few shots into a wall; he was then tackled by a teacher (who was given a paid LOA for the rest of the school year) and there were several minor injuries from kids jumping out of a first-floor window. A decade later, there was a murder/suicide at another school. The murder victim was the best friend of a woman I worked with a few years later and am still friends with; the boy who killed her, and then himself, had stalked her relentlessly for a couple of years, and every time her family went to the authorities, SHE was told that SHE had to stay away from him. :mad: AFAIK, except maybe for her father, not once was the boy so much as told to knock it off and leave her alone. He was never arrested or suspended beforehand because he never broke any laws or school rules, since he knew just what the limits were. I later met other people who were at that school at the time, and they all agreed that he was bad news for other reasons and the world was a better place without him in it, but the girl? She was about to graduate at 16 as valedictorian. ☹ ETA: His father was a prominent attorney. Can’t say that wasn’t a factor in the unfair treatment. Turner Classic Movies has aired this 1955 educational film, which was apparently based on a true story. TL : DW - an adolescent boy, distraught over his mother’s recent death and living in poverty with an uninterested stepfather, finds his stepfather’s gun and takes it to school, where he fires it into the asphalt at recess when bullies surround him. What happens to him? He’s taken to the principal and referred for counseling, and in time is adopted by a relative. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kx4Oy6YhC-8/hqdefault.jpg "Age 13 (1955)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx4Oy6YhC-8) ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/8 "2018-01-30T06:37:03Z")
GO AMERICA…love ya work babe. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/9 "2018-01-30T07:10:35Z")
The linked article has a bit of a hyped headline. From the text of the article: > [@](#): > > Some of the shootings at schools this year were suicides that injured no one else; some did not result in any injuries at all. Granted, none of the incidences were _good_ things. But it’s not like we’ve had eleven Columbine’s in January. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/10 "2018-01-30T07:30:43Z")
Lacking proper parenting, schooling, discipline and values, people these days can’t cope. So they take out their frustrations, inability to cope and feelings of inferiority on others, often through the use of guns. All this has been brewing for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/11 "2018-01-30T13:20:58Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > The linked article has a bit of a hyped headline. From the text of the article: > > Granted, none of the incidences were _good_ things. But it’s not like we’ve had eleven Columbine’s in January. I guess that’s okay then. Whew. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/12 "2018-01-30T13:47:03Z")
Almost 4 years later, and this is still accurate: [‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens](https://www.theonion.com/no-way-to-prevent-this-says-only-nation-where-this-r-1819576527) Really sad ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/13 "2018-01-30T15:21:19Z")
That’s why it’s so important we close our borders, ban immigrants and build walls. Amiright? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/14 "2018-01-30T15:25:16Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > WTF is this country coming to? > > [School Shooting in Kentucky Was Nation’s 11th of Year. It Was Jan. 23.](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/us/kentucky-school-shooting.html) \*\*They’re barely making the headlines anymore. \*\* This is what needs to happen. People think they will go out in a blaze of glory and be all over the news. The news media needs to quit feeding their fantasy, and instead report the stories presenting the shooter as a total loser. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/15 "2018-01-30T16:53:24Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > That’s why it’s so important we close our borders, ban immigrants and build walls. > Amiright? And make sure everyone, even elementary school children, owns and carries a gun. That should solve the problem. ---
**Author:** ![StrTrkr777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@StrTrkr777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrTrkr777)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/16 "2018-01-30T18:55:00Z")
When I first saw that I was shocked. Then I read the line about the suicides (clearly not ok either), but I am curious as to how many of the 11 were suicides and what does it mean about ones that did not have any injuries at all. Were some of the occurances like the 1972 mention of someone bringing a gun to school and firing it at a wall or other structure? Did they try to shoot someone and miss? Were some drive-bys (still not ok). Were some events after school hours and possibly drug deals gone bad? Last year at one of the local HS, a teacher who was going through a divorce and just at the point of suicide went to school early and in his classroom had decided to shoot himself. It ended in him changing his mind while firing the gun. He did not injure himself enough to die, but did cause the school to be shutdown and he of course lost his job. I have no idea why he chose the school, maybe to be found quickly. But I would like for them to break down the incidences to lessen the ambiguity. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/17 "2018-01-30T19:19:42Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Lacking proper parenting, schooling, discipline and values, people these days can’t cope. So they take out their frustrations, inability to cope and feelings of inferiority on others, often through the use of guns. All this has been brewing for a long time. That seems like more of a deflection than an explanation, since the same societal and cultural elements are mostly true in other western nations, yet they don’t have anywhere even remotely the same problem with gun violence. Has it not occurred to anyone that having far more more guns per capita than any other industrialized country in the world, and making them far easier for anyone to acquire than anywhere else, is a significant part of the problem? None of the things you cite appeared to be true for the Newtown (Sandy Hook) shooter, who had a caring mother with an upper-class lifestyle. He was mentally unstable for reasons other than upbringing, but, in typical American style, had easy access to multiple guns. Rebecca Peters, a former Johns Hopkins University fellow specializing in gun violence, put it quite succinctly: “If you have a country saturated with guns – available to people when they are intoxicated, angry or depressed – it’s not unusual guns will be used more often. This has to be treated as a public health emergency.” ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/18 "2018-02-01T08:27:45Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > That seems like more of a deflection than an explanation, since the same societal and cultural elements are mostly true in other western nations, yet they don’t have anywhere even remotely the same problem with gun violence. Has it not occurred to anyone that having far more more guns per capita than any other industrialized country in the world, and making them far easier for anyone to acquire than anywhere else, is a significant part of the problem? > > None of the things you cite appeared to be true for the Newtown (Sandy Hook) shooter, who had a caring mother with an upper-class lifestyle. He was mentally unstable for reasons other than upbringing, but, in typical American style, had easy access to multiple guns. Rebecca Peters, a former Johns Hopkins University fellow specializing in gun violence, put it quite succinctly: “If you have a country saturated with guns – available to people when they are intoxicated, angry or depressed – it’s not unusual guns will be used more often. This has to be treated as a public health emergency.” QFT ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/19 "2018-02-01T11:18:49Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > The linked article has a bit of a hyped headline. From the text of the article: > > Granted, none of the incidences were _good_ things. But it’s not like we’ve had eleven Columbine’s in January. I’d say it is worrisome to see suicides as not a thing to worry about. MMV. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778/20 "2018-02-01T14:45:17Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I’d say it is worrisome to see suicides as not a thing to worry about. MMV. This and seeing ANY shooting on a campus as nothing to worry about. So your 10-year old comes home today and says, “Mom, somebody got shot at school today, but it was no big deal–just a suicide.” Or, “Some dude shot the principal’s assistant today, but it’s okay, she didn’t die and anyway, he said she was cheating on him. What’s for dinner?” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-school-shootings-in-the-first-23-days-of-2018/807778.md?page=2)