Hundreds of people in the U.S. have died in shootings over the past 25 years in places like offices, stores and theaters, but the carnage perhaps hits hardest when it happens in schools and colleges.
In those cases, the victims are children who still have some of their baby teeth, newly adult students with career and family dreams, and teachers who often become role models and mentors to their young students.
A shooting Monday at a Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, was the latest in a long list of those taking place at American schools and colleges since the 1999 Columbine High School Massacre in Colorado.
The shootings include:
ABUNDANT LIFE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL, December 2024, 2 dead
A 15-year-old female student killed another teenager and a teacher inside a nondenominational Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, just a week before the start of its Christmas break, police said. She also wounded six others and died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
APALACHEE HIGH SCHOOL, September 2024, 4 dead
A 14-year-old student opened fire inside a Winder, Georgia, high school with an assault-style rifle, killing two other 14-year-old students and two teachers, authorities said. Students scrambled for shelter in classrooms — and eventually fled to the football stadium — as officers swarmed the campus. The shooter surrendered and has been charged with murder. So has his father, who is accused of knowingly allowing his son to have the weapon.
PERRY HIGH SCHOOL, January 2024, 2 dead
A 17-year-old opened fire at a high school in Perry, Iowa, just before classes on the first day after winter break, killing a sixth-grader and wounding the school principal, who risked his life to save students and later died of his injuries. Four others were injured, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said the shooter also died from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
THE COVENANT SCHOOL, March 2023, 6 dead
A 28-year-old shooter wielding two “assault-style” rifles and a pistol killed three students and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville. The shooter, who police said had previously attended the school, died after being shot by police.
RICHNECK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, January 2023, 1 injured
A first-grade teacher in Newport News, Virginia, was shot in the hand and chest by a 6-year-old student who said he used his mother's handgun, according to police search warrants. The boy's mother was charged with felony child neglect and sentenced to two years in prison.
STARTS RIGHT HERE, January 2023, 2 dead
An 18-year-old man with a handgun entered a common area of a school for at-risk students in Des Moines, Iowa, and fired at teenagers before fleeing in a car driven by another teenager. A 16-year-old and 18-year-old student died, and the school's founder was injured. Authorities said the shooting arose from an ongoing gang dispute.
CENTRAL VISUAL ARTS AND PERFORMING ARTS HIGH SCHOOL, 2 dead
An armed, 19-year-old former student broke into a St. Louis high school, warning, "You are all going to die!” before fatally shooting a teacher and a teenage girl. He also wounded seven others before police killed him in an exchange of gunfire.
ROBB ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, May 2022, 21 dead
An 18-year-old shooter opened fire at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two adults. Law enforcement killed the attacker.
OXFORD HIGH SCHOOL, November 2021, 4 dead
A sophomore student killed four people and wounded others at his school in Oxford, Michigan, near Detroit. Authorities said his parents failed to secure a gun and ignored the mental health needs of their son before the shootings. Both were charged and convicted of involuntary manslaughter. The shooter is serving a life sentence for murder and other crimes.
SANTA FE HIGH SCHOOL, May 2018, 10 dead
A shooter opened fire at a Houston-area high school, killing 10 people, most of them students. A student, then 17, was charged with capital murder but was later declared incompetent to stand trial, and he's been held at a state mental hospital since 2019.
MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL, February 2018, 17 dead
A shooter opened fire at a school in Parkland, Florida, killing 14 students and three staff members and injuring many others. The shooter was sentenced to life without parole.
UMPQUA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, October 2015, 9 dead
A man killed nine people at a school in Roseburg, Oregon, and wounded nine others. He then killed himself.
MARYSVILLE-PILCHUCK HIGH SCHOOL, October 2014, 4 dead
A 15-year-old used text messages to draw several cousins and friends to his cafeteria table at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Washington state. He fatally shot four of them before killing himself.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA, May 2014, 6 dead
A 22-year-old college student frustrated over sexual rejections fatally stabbed or shot six students near the school in Isla Vista, California. He injured several others before he killed himself.
SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, December 2012, 27 dead
A 19-year-old man killed his mother at their home in Newtown, Connecticut, then went to the nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 20 first graders and six educators. He took his own life.
OIKOS UNIVERSITY, April 2012, 7 dead
A former nursing student fatally shot seven people at a small private college in East Oakland, California. He died in prison in 2019.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, February 2008, 5 dead
A 27-year-old former student shot and killed five people and wounded more than 20 others at a school in DeKalb, Illinois, before killing himself.
VIRGINIA TECH, April 2007, 32 dead
A 23-year-old student killed 32 people on the campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, in April 2007; more than two dozen others were wounded. The gunman then killed himself.
WEST NICKEL MINES AMISH SCHOOL, October 2006, 5 dead
A 32-year-old man entered an Amish schoolhouse near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, dismissed the boys, bound the girls, and fatally shot five of them before killing himself. Five others were wounded.
RED LAKE HIGH SCHOOL, March 2005, 9 dead
A 16-year-old student killed his grandfather and the man’s companion at their Minnesota home, then went to nearby Red Lake High School, where he killed five students, a teacher and a security guard before shooting himself.
COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL, April 1999, 13 dead
Two students killed 12 of their peers and one teacher at a school in Littleton, Colorado, and injured many others before killing themselves.
