A Call to End School Shootings Through Primary Prevention
More people need to love their children more than they love their weapons. If we have no children and no future, what are we protecting? – Elder Dolores Subia BigFoot, October 2026
Our community, state, and nation are devastated by the deadly Silver Rail Elementary School tragedy that occurred this past week in Bend, Oregon. Somewhere, somehow, we have failed to protect our children. We have failed to protect our schools and teachers. We have failed to provide support to students with behavioral challenges and their parents who are struggling to find help. At AKA, we are not in the business of evaluating gun control policies and the implications of these policies and laws on public health...but we are in the business of helping communities heal.
We wanted to explore the current research on gun violence and school shootings in the U.S. Our curiosity was both personal and moral. Here are four studies that can help us better understand why school shootings occur and how we (as a community and nation) can prevent them in the future.
A systematic review of sociodemographic and psychological characteristics of U.S. school shooters tells us that:
97% identified as male
19.4 years was the average age
56% White, 40% Black, 10% Asian, 9% Native American, 8% Hispanic, 4% other
27% experience violent or abusive domestic environments
78% experienced at least one Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE)
32% had a physical health diagnosis (Minelli et al., 2026)
A critical review of national and local media news reports of 25 American male school shooter cases from 2013 to 2019 shows that:
88% had at least one social media account
76% posted disturbing content of guns and threatening messages
72% of shooters had at least one ACE
60% reported being bullied in person or online (Dowdell et al., 2022).
A policy brief published by the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium on school shootings from 1990 to 2016 in the US found that:
652 school shootings have occurred from 1990 to 2016
25% involved self-harm/suicide
75% were intentional interpersonal school shootings
18 is the average number of intentional school shootings each year (Freilich et al., 2022).
A report from the Kaiser Family Foundation in 2025 calls attention to the following school shooting data.
Students are 3 times more likely to be exposed to school shootings (from 19 per 100,000 students in 1999-2004 to 51 in 2020-2024).
Where you live matters- from 2020 to 2024, the rate of school shooting exposure per 100,000 students was highest in Delaware (359), DC (356), Utah (166), Arkansas (130), and Nevada (127).
Children exposed to gun violence may experience serious adverse effects, including anxiety, PTSD, suicide risk, and substance use issues. Some school safety measures, such as active shooter drills, may also negatively affect student mental health (Panchal & Zitter, 2025).
Now that our community and the nation have witnessed another school shooting, we must find ways to mitigate the effects on mental health and wellbeing.
Data show that after a school shooting, PTSD, anxiety, and depression increase. In some cases, school performance decreases, absenteeism increases, and some students have difficulty concentrating.
Students, and specifically teens, and their parents worry that another school shooting may occur at their school. Although knowledge of mass shootings may increase fear and anxiety, it is necessary to protect our children, be vigilant about the warning signs when someone is in crisis, and be mindful of our own emotions and wellbeing.
Toward a More Expansive Approach to Primary Prevention of Gun Violence and School Shootings
Rather than react, we can use this time to prevent future shootings in K-12 schools. Researchers call for more expansive primary prevention to address gun violence in K-12 schools. This includes the following.
Community investments and interventions to improve housing conditions, enhance street lighting, and address violent crime in a community or neighborhood.
Equitable access to early childhood education during a child’s preschool years and access to community-based programming later in adolescence
School environment investments involve policies and practices that promote belonging, foster positive connections, and encourage children's agency. Other approaches include school-based programming to address anger management, empathy, problem-solving, and decision-making, along with norms of non-violence.
Reduce access to firearms for prohibited users. There are 400 million firearms in the US, and the number has increased since the COVID-19 Pandemic. More permissive state firearm laws and higher rates of gun ownership are associated with higher rates of school shootings. Efforts to promote safe firearm storage practices (like keeping firearms locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition) are a start, along with educating families about safe storage.
Secondary prevention includes strengthening school security, addressing bystander responses and interventions, school environments, and disparities in student outcomes. Tertiary prevention includes lockdown drills, which are common in 95% of K-12 schools, mental health and early interventions, and commitment to trauma-informed schools (Rajan et al., 2026).
We can take action right now to address the lack of safety in our schools, for our children, and for those coming.
It is not enough to do nothing
To watch
In a complacent stance
As more children and families
Communities
Lose their loved ones to mass shootings and violence.
Read More of This Research Here
Dowdell, E. B., Freitas, E., Owens, A., & Greenle, M. M. (2022). School shooters: patterns of adverse childhood experiences, bullying, and social media. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 36(4), 339-346. Available from: https://www.jpedhc.org/article/S0891-5245(21)00290-X/fulltext
Freilich, J., Chermak, S., Connell, N., Klein, B., Greene-Colozzi- E. (2022). Overview of the American School Shooting Study. Rockefeller Institute of Government. Available from: https://rockinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Overview-American-School-Shooting-Study-TASSS.pdf
Panchal, N., & Zitter, S. (2025). Examining School Shootings at the National and State Level and Mental Health Implications. Kaiser Family Foundation. March 18, 2025. Available from: https://www.kff.org/mental-health/examining-school-shootings-at-the-national-and-state-level-and-mental-health-implications/
Rajan, S., Reeping, P. M., Ladhani, Z., Vasudevan, L. M., & Branas, C. C. (2022). Gun violence in K-12 schools in the United States: Moving towards a preventive (versus reactive) framework. Preventive medicine, 165(Pt A), 107280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2022.107280
Minelli, M., Zappalà, A., Vayr, S., & Santtila, P. (2026). Sociodemographic and psychological characteristics of school shooters in the United States: a systematic review of the literature. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 16, 1735929. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1735929
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