Homicides at the Nation's Schools

Hundreds of children have been murdered while at school over the past few decades, according to a grim study by the CDC. Nearly 400 children (393) were murdered in single-death incidents while at school from 1994 to 2016. Another 121 children were murdered in multiple-death incidents from 1994 to 2018. There are differences in these two types of crimes, according to the study findings...

Sex of victims and perpetrators: The victims in single-death incidents were mostly male (77 percent), while the victims in multiple-death incidents were evenly split between males and females. Males were the great majority of perpetrators in both types of incidents, with the proportion reaching as high as 98 percent in multiple-death incidents.

Race of victims: Blacks were a much larger share of victims in single-death (53 percent) than multiple-death incidents (12 percent). Non-Hispanic Whites were a much larger share of victims in multiple-death incidents (69 percent) than single-death incidents (23 percent).

Age of victims: Fully 78 percent of victims in single-death incidents were aged 15 to 18, another 19 percent were aged 10 to 14, and 3 percent were aged 5 to 9. In multiple-death incidents, a smaller 54 percent of victims were in the 15-to-18 age group, 23 percent were aged 10 to 14, and 23 percent were aged 5 to 9.

Cause of death: Firearms were the cause of death in 63 percent of single-death incidents. Stabbing accounted for another 24 percent. In multiple-death incidents, fully 95 percent of deaths were caused by firearms.

Source: CDC, Characteristics of School-Associated Youth Homicides—United States, 1994–2018