The Columbine effect: A horrific roster of school shootings since 1999

The Columbine effect: A horrific roster of school shootings since 1999

By Michael Roberts in Word on the StreetMonday, Apr. 20 2009 @ 10:58AM

The most resonant information that’s come my way thus far today in relation to the anniversary of the April 20, 1999 shootings at Columbine High School was contained in an e-mail sent to Westword by Vicki Newell, a public-policy director with the Colorado PTA. It’s a list of school shootings since 1999, as compiled by The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. The roster gathers 108 incidents since Columbine, synopsized with chilling banality. Many of them received relatively little publicity beyond the immediate vicinity where they took place, and some didn’t lead to injuries, let alone deaths. However, the word “Columbine” pops up frequently in blurbs of all types, and the term was likely invoked in the rest at one point or another. The ripples from that deadly day continue to spread, despite efforts by an enormous number of people to calm the waters.

MAJOR SCHOOL SHOOTINGS SINCE 1999

Dearborn, Michigan. April 10, 2009. A man shot and killed a female classmate and then himself at MacKenzie Fine Arts Center on the campus of Henry Ford Community College.

Dove Creek, Colorado. April 9, 2009. Two teens who were arrested in New Mexico for burglary had planned a shooting spree at Dove Creek High School in Colorado. The teens also planned to shoot the school’s principal and the superintendent, as well as the County Sheriff and Undersheriff. Police found three guns in the teenagers’ possession and seven more guns at the younger boy’s home.

Jacksonville, Florida. March 10, 2009. At least one shot was fired during a fight that erupted among several students at Ribault High School before classes began. Nobody was injured, but two guns were recovered.

Detroit, Michigan. February 17, 2009. A former student snuck into Central High School and was shot by another non-student at the end of the school day.

Wake County, North Carolina. February 12, 2009. A boy pulled a pistol out of his backpack and accidentally shot a 14 year old classmate in the leg while the two were on the bus to Zebulon Middle School.

El Monte, California. February 11, 2009. A third grader accidentally fired a gun while showing it to friends on the playground of Baker Elementary School. Nobody was injured, but there were approximately 100 other kids on the playground at the time of the shooting. The boy says he took the gun from his grandmother.

Clayton, North Carolina. January 27, 2009. Two teenagers were arrested for firing a gun in the parking lot of Clayton High School. A bullet struck the outside wall of the gymnasium, where a basketball game was in progress.

Chicago, Illinois. January 9, 2009. A gunman began shooting indiscriminately from a car into a crowd of people that were leaving a basketball game at Paul Laurence Dunbar Vocational Career Academy. Five people were injured.

New Castle, Delaware. January 8, 2009. One person was shot and injured outside of William Penn High School after a basketball game.

North Manheim, Pennsylvania. December 18, 2009. A 17-year old was arrested for plotting to shoot students at Blue Mountain High School. Police found multiple weapons and paramilitary gear at his home.

Montco, Pennsylvania. December 4, 2008. A 15-year old was institutionalized after stealing three guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition from his father, and plotting to shoot other students and himself at Pottstown High School. Police began investigating when the father reported the guns stolen. The boy later admitted to the shooting plot and pled guilty to attempted first degree murder.

Savannah, Georgia. November 21, 2008. A 19 year old student shot a fellow student twice after the two argued at Savannah State University. All staff and students were notified and buildings on campus were locked down until the shooter was arrested.

St. George, Utah. November 15, 2008. A 15-year old student died from injuries after the gun he was holding discharged at Desert Hills High School. The gun was a prop for the school play and was loaded with blanks.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida. November 12, 2008. A 15 year old female student shot and killed a 15-year-old classmate in a hallway at Dillard High School. The two girls had been friends for years, but had issues recently. The shooter may have gotten the gun from her grandfather, her guardian, who had a concealed carry permit.

Big Bear, California. October 29, 2008. Five teenage boys were arrested for plotting to shoot students, teachers, and staff at Big Bear High School. Other students overheard their plans and alerted authorities.

Conway, Arkansas. October 26, 2008. Several men in a car drove up to a dormitory at the University of Central Arkansas and opened fire, killing two students and injuring a third person. The police believe the victims were targeted.

San Antonio, Texas. October 13, 2008. A librarian shot and killed a fellow librarian at Northeast Lakeview Community College library, where the two men worked.

Willoughby, Ohio. September 2, 2008. A 15 year old student fired two shots in a hallway at Willoughby South High School. It is believed the boy planned to kill himself in front of his girlfriend.

Portland, Oregon. August 29, 2008. An unidentified shooter fired five or six shots into a crowd leaving a football game at Madison High School. Shortly before the shooting, police arrested a 14-year old carrying a gun in a separate incident nearby.

Opelousas, Louisiana. August 26, 2008. Three students were arrested after shots were fired at the T.H. Harris campus of Louisiana Technical College. No one was injured.

Knoxville, Tennessee. August 21, 2008. A 15-year old fatally shot a fellow 15-year old classmate in the cafeteria at Central High School.

Phoenix, Arizona. July 24, 2008. A former student shot three people in a computer lab at South Mountain Community College. The gunman had a longstanding disagreement with one of the victims.

Boca Raton, Florida. April 30, 2008. One person was injured at Florida Atlantic University when a man pulled a gun and fired twice during a fight at a party. The University was locked down until the shooter was arrested.

Washington, DC. April 29, 2008. A student shot two people at Excel Institute, a vocational school, and then stole two cars as fled from the police.

Omaha, Nebraska. April 24, 2008. An eighth grader was shot in the face during a soccer game at King Science and Technology Magnet Middle School.

Hayward, California. March 31, 2008. A 17-year old boy was shot in the leg at Royal Sunset Continuation School. Three other students are believed to have been involved in the shooting.

Chicago, Illinois. March 29, 2008. An 18-year old died after being shot by a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old outside Simeon Career Academy shortly after Saturday classes let out. There had been a several fights leading up to the shooting.

Chicago, Illinois. March 7, 2008. A 15-year old fatally shot an 18-year-old student outside Crane High School.

Mobile, Alabama. March 6, 2008. A student shot and killed himself in front of 150 other students in the gym of Davidson High School.

Miami Gardens, Florida. February 28, 2008. A bullet grazed the ear of a 17-year old student as he was leaving band practice at Miami Norland Senior High School.

Little Rock, Arkansas. February 27, 2008. A student was shot on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Jonesboro, Arkansas. February 23, 2008. A student was injured when a bullet ricocheted off a building and hit him in the leg on the campus of Arkansas State University. The shooter has not been identified.

DeKalb, Illinois. February 14, 2008. A man entered a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University and began shooting. He killed five students and wounded 16 before killing himself.

Oxnard, California. February 12, 2008. A 14-year old fatally shot another student in the head while in class at E.O. Green Junior High School. The victim had been bullied at school since declaring that he was gay several weeks earlier.

Memphis, Tennessee. February 11, 2008. A 17-year old shot another student multiple times before handing the gun over to the teacher during gym class at Mitchell High School. The two students had argued over the weekend. There were about 75 students in the room during the shooting.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana. February 8, 2008. A female student killed herself and two others in a classroom at Louisiana Tech.

Memphis, Tennessee. February 4, 2008. A 16-year old student shot another 16-year-old in the leg while in class at Hamilton High School. The injury is not critical.

Washington, DC. January 22, 2008. Four Ballou High School students were shot as they were leaving school at the end of the day. All students are expected to recover.

Las Vegas, Nevada. January 18, 2008. A 16-year old shot at another student outside a basketball game at Cheyenne High School. Nobody was injured in the incident.

Cleveland, Ohio. January 16, 2008. A 16-year old boy pulled a gun from his locker and aimed it into a crowd of students when a fight erupted at South High School.

Charlotte, North Carolina. January 16, 2008. A student at Crossroads Charter High School was shot in the parking lot after an early-scheduled dismissal.

Putnam City, Oklahoma. January 15, 2008. A 17-year old was shot three times in a Putnam City High School parking lot after a basketball game.

Asheville, North Carolina. January 10, 2007. A 16-year old with a handgun shot at a fellow student at Asheville High School. Nobody was injured in the incident.

Gibsonton, Florida. December 17, 2007. Three East Bay High School students shot two other students as they were walking home from their bus stop. The two groups of students had clashed previously.

Las Vegas, Nevada. December 11, 2007. Two assailants using 9-millimeter and .45-caliber guns shot six people as they exited a Mojave High School bus. The attack followed a fight at school earlier in the day.

Oakland, California. December 11, 2007. Three teens were shot after a basketball game at McClymonds High School in a drive-by shooting.

Lagrangeville, New York. November 29, 2007. Three Hudson Valley High School students were arrested for planning a Columbine-type attack and making threats online.

Holland Patent, New York. November 26, 2007. Two Holland Patent High School students shot a gun while on their school bus. Nobody was injured.

Beaufort, South Carolina. November 20, 2007. An 18 year old shot a 17-year old student in the Battery Creek High School parking lot after a basketball scrimmage.

Saginaw, Michigan. October 25, 2007. Two Arthur Hill High School students and two adults were shot by another student as they left a middle school football game.

Portland, Oregon. October 12, 2007. Two teens from Jefferson High School were shot when a gunman fired into a crowd of students that had gathered after the end of their Homecoming Dance.

Cleveland, Ohio. October 10, 2007. A 14-year old student shot two teachers and two students at SuccessTech Academy before killing himself. He had been suspended for fighting earlier in the week and had threatened to harm other students and blow up the school previously.

Norristown, Pennsylvania. October 10, 2007. A 14-year old is arrested for stockpiling weapons and plotting a Columbine-style attack. Police found over 30 weapons in his possession.

Memphis, Tennessee. September 30, 2007. A 21-year old University of Memphis student was shot and killed on campus.

Oroville, California. September 28, 2007. A 17-year old armed with a .22-caliber handgun takes over two dozen students hostage at Las Plumas High School, holding three of them for an hour before police convince him to surrender.

Dover, Delaware. September 21, 2007. A freshman at Delaware State University shot and wounded two other students at a campus dining hall. The shooter, who had earlier been in a fight with one of the victims, has been charged with attempted murder.

Newark, New Jersey. August 4, 2007. Three Delaware State University students were shot and killed execution style by a 28 year old and two 15 year old boys. The three friends were forced to kneel against a wall behind an elementary school and were shot in the head. A fourth student was found about 30 feet away with gunshot and knife wounds to her head.

Dallas, Texas. June 29, 2007. A 17-year old former high school football player shot and injured two other high school students in the school parking lot.

Huntersville, North Carolina. April 18, 2007. A 16-year old male high school student made threatened two high school students with a gun in their school’s parking lot and then turned the gun on himself, committing suicide, when police subsequently approached him in a nearby gas station.

Blacksburg, Virginia. April 16, 2007. A student killed 32 students and faculty, and wounded 15 more at Virginia Tech. He was armed with a Glock model 19 handgun and a Walther P22 handgun. It is the worst single act of gun violence in American history.

Gresham, Oregon. April 10, 2007. Ten high school students were injured when gunshots from a rifle shattered a classroom window. A student who attended the school was later arrested and the rifle was found in a nearby field.

Greensboro, North Carolina. March 24, 2007. A freshman was seriously wounded after being shot in the lower back with a .25 automatic pistol while in his dorm room at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. A 19 year old arrested and charged with the shooting.

Midland, Michigan. March 7, 2007. A gunman shot and wounded his teenage ex-girlfriend in a high school parking lot in Midland, Mich., before fatally shooting himself.

Los Angeles, California. January 26, 2007. An 18-year old male was shot in the three times and died while playing basketball in a middle school gym. Police were seeking three suspects who fled after the shooting.

Tacoma, Washington. January 3, 2007. An 18-year old student shot a fellow student in the hallway of Henry Foss High School before 1st period classes began.

Springfield Township, Pennsylvania. December 12, 2006. A 16-year old male high school shot and killed himself with an AK-47 in the hallway of his high school. The student, reportedly despondent over his grades, had the gun concealed in a camouflage duffle bag and fired one round in the ceiling to warn other students to get out of the way before committing suicide.

Clinton, South Carolina. November 9, 2006. A North Carolina man, suspected of assaulting his wife, committed suicide after wounding a police officer on the campus of Presbyterian College.

Joplin, Missouri. October 9, 2006. A 13-year old boy, obsessed with the Columbine school shootings, brought a MAC-90 semiautomatic assault rifle (a replica of an AK-47) to school, pointing it at students and firing it into the ceiling until the gun jammed.

Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. October 2, 2006. A dairy truck driver walked into a oneroom Amish schoolhouse with a shotgun, a semi-automatic handgun, and 600 rounds of ammunition, selected all the female students, and shot them execution-style, killing five and seriously wounding six. The man then shot himself, apparently having left suicide notes beforehand.

Cazenovia, Wisconsin. September 29, 2006. A student walked into a rural school with a handgun and a shotgun and shot the principal several times, killing him.

Bailey, Colorado. September 27, 2006. A lone gunman enters a high school and holds six female students hostage, sexually assaults them, kills one of them, and then kills himself after a four-hour standoff.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. September 17, 2006. Five Duquesne University basketball players are wounded, one critically, after a shooting on campus following a dance, the first such incident in the 128-year history of the University.71

Green Bay, Wisconsin. September 14, 2006. Two boys, teased at school and obsessed with the mass killings at Columbine, are arrested for amassing an arsenal of guns and bombs and for planning an attack on East High School.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada. September 13, 2006. An individual massacres 14 women at the Ecole Polytechnique of the University of Montreal, “apparently because he felt that women were taking too many seats at the university.”

Hillsborough, North Carolina. August 30, 2006. After shooting his father to death, a student opens fire at his high school, injuring two students. Deputies found guns, ammunition, and homemade pipe bombs in the student’s car. The student had e-mailed Columbine High’s Principal, telling him that it was “time the world remembered” the shootings at Columbine.

Essex, Vermont. August 24, 2006. A gunman shoots five people, killing two of them, in a rampage through two houses and an elementary school, before wounding himself.

Red Lake Indian Reservation, Minnesota. March 21, 2005. At the time, the worst school-related shooting incident since the Columbine shootings in April of 1999. Ten killed and seven injured in rampage by high school student.

Bellflower, California. March 16, 2005. Another Columbine was averted when two juveniles were arrested for plotting to shoot up their high school.

Cumberland City, Tennessee. March 2, 2005. School bus driver shot and killed while driving a school bus carrying 24 students – from kindergarten through 12th grade — by a 14-year old student who had been reported to administrators by the driver for chewing tobacco on the bus.

Nine Mile Falls, Washington. December 10, 2004. A 16-year old high school junior committed suicide with a .38-caliber handgun at his high school’s entryway around 1:20 p.m.

Joyce, Washington. March 17, 2004. A 13-year old student shot and killed himself in a school classroom where about 20 other students were present. The boy reportedly brought a .22-caliber rifle hidden in a guitar case and pulled it out during the 10 a.m. class.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. February 11, 2004: A 10-year old student was shot in the face and died outside a Philadelphia elementary school. A 56 year old female school crossing guard was also shot in the foot as she tried to scurry children across the street as bullets were flying and children were on the playground.

Washington, D.C. February 2, 2004. A 17-year old male high school student died after being shot several times and another student was injured after shots were fired near the school’s cafeteria.

Henderson, Nevada. January 21, 2004. Gunman shoots and kills a hostage in his car on school campus. The gunman was allegedly looking for his ex-girlfriend as he searched the school full of children in an after-school program.

Sugar Land, Texas. November 8, 2003. A 17-year old female high school student was shot and killed as a fight broke out at the side of a stadium at a high school football game.

Cold Spring, Minnesota. September 24, 2003. Two students are shot and killed by a 15-year old at Rocori High School.

Hopkinsville, Kentucky. September 16, 2003. A 16-year old girl fatally shot another teen and then killed herself as the two sat in a car parked at a shopping center across from their school.

Fort Worth, Texas. September 10, 2003. A 16-year old boy fatally shot a classmate, then dumped his body in a nearby construction site.

San Diego, California. September 5, 2003. A 14-year old boy jogging with his high school cross-country team is shot and killed in an ambush by his father, who then killed himself after a standoff with police.

Red Lion, Pennsylvania. April 24, 2003. Principal of Red Lion Area Junior High is fatally shot in the chest by a 14-year old student, who then committed suicide, as students gather in the cafeteria for breakfast.

New Orleans, Louisiana. April 14, 2003. One 15-year old was killed and three students wounded at John McDonough High School by gunfire from four teenagers in a gang-related shooting.

Tucson, Arizona, October 29, 2002. A student shot and killed three professors, and then himself, in a rampage at the University of Arizona School of Nursing, where he was a failing. Reportedly, he had told classmates about a year before that he had obtained a CCW permit.

October 7, 2002. Bowie, Maryland. A 13-year old by was shot and critically wounded by the DC-area sniper outside Benjamin Tasker Middle School.

New York, New York. January 15, 2002. Two students at Martin Luther King Junior High School in Manhattan were seriously wounded when an 18 year old opened fire in the school.

Caro, Michigan. November 12, 2001. A 17-year old student took two hostages and the Caro Learning Center with a .22-caliber rifle and a 20-gauge shotgun, before killing himself.

Ennis, Texas. May 15, 2001. A 16-year old sophomore upset over his relationship with a girl, took 17 hostages in English class, and shot and killed himself and the girl.

Gary, Indiana. March 30, 2001. A 17 year old expelled from Lew Wallace High School kills classmate.

Granite Hills, California. March 22, 2001. One teacher and three students wounded by a student at Granite Hills School.

Willamsport, Pennsylvania. March 7, 2001. Classmate wounded by a 14-year old girl, in the cafeteria of Bishop Neuman High School.

Santee, California. March 5, 2001. A 15-year old student killed two fellow students and wounded 13 others, while firing from a bathroom at Santana High School in San Diego County.

Baltimore, Maryland. January 17, 2001. A 17-year old student shot and killed in front of Lake Clifton-Eastern High School.

New Orleans, Louisiana. September 26, 2000. Two students wounded in a gunfight at Woodson Middle School.

Lake Worth, Florida. May 26, 2000. A 13-year old honor student killed his English teacher on the last day of classes after the teacher refused to let him talk to two girls in his classroom.

Prairie Grove, Arkansas. May 11, 2000. Seventh grade student injures police officer in a hay field north of the student’s school after leaving campus in an apparent fit of rage.

Savannah, Georgia. March 10, 2000. Two students killed by a 19-year old while leaving a dance sponsored by Beach High School.

Mount Morris Township, Michigan. February 29, 2000. A 6-year old boy shot and killed a 6-year old girl at Buell Elementary School with a .32 caliber handgun.

Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. December 6, 1999. A 13-year old student, armed with a handgun, opened fire outside Fort Gibson Middle school, wounding four classmates.

Deming, New Mexico. November 19, 1999. A 12-year old boy came to school dressed in camouflage and shoots 13-year old girl with a .22 caliber as students were returning from lunch.

Conyers, Georgia. May 20, 1999. A 15-year old sophomore opens fire with a rifle and a handgun on Heritage High School students arriving for classes, injuring six.

Littleton, Colorado. April 20, 1999. Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, killed 15 students and a teacher and wounded 23 with two sawed-off shotguns and a TEC-DC9 before killing themselves at Columbine High School.