Have There Really Been 18 School Shootings in 2018?
OutdoorHub Reporters 02.20.18
What happened at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, is absolutely gut wrenching and terrifying. Seventeen people slayed at the hands of a “broken” 19-year old Nikolas Cruz, who was expelled from the school, and reported by his classmates multiple times.
It’s the kind of news that makes you feel weak at the knees, yet as angry as you’ve ever felt in your life.
No matter your stance on gun control legislation, we ALL can agree that these types of mass shootings need to end, immediately. However, that shouldn’t give the mainstream media a pass to twist headlines around to convince you these shootings where mass casualties are suffered occur every day.
You’ve probably heard the rallying cry in the news, as several outlets have reported this as the 18th school shooting in 2018. But, there’s something wrong with that statement; it isn’t accurate . . .
As reported by the pro-gun control group, Everytown, here’s a list of the 18 “school shootings” that occurred this year, and what actually happened in those cases:
- A man committed suicide by shooting himself in an elementary school parking lot when the school was closed. No children were reported present on the school’s premises at the time.
- Shots were fired at a high school in Burien, Washington, but no suspect was ever arrested, and no injuries were ever reported.
- A man shattered the window of a school bus using a pellet gun in Forest City, Indiana. No injuries were reported, and the 32-year-old suspect was arrested.
- A college student negligently fired a shot into a wall after mistaking a real gun for a training gun. No injuries were reported.
- A 14-year-old shot and killed himself in a bathroom at Coronado Elementary School in Arizona.
- Gun shots were fired at a campus building at Cal State San Bernardino. No injuries were reported.
- A shootout between two individuals in separate cars occurred in a Wiley College dorm parking lot. No deaths or injuries were reported, and neither suspect was arrested. A stray bullet did reportedly shatter the window of a nearby dorm room with three female students inside.
- Following an argument, a Winston-Salem State University football player was shot and killed at a sorority party.
- A 16-year-old shot a fellow student in a cafeteria in Texas. The victim sustained some injuries, but was expected to make a full recovery. The shooter was arrested, and charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
- Some unknown suspect drove by a high school in Louisiana and opened fire at a group of students. A 14-year-old was reported to have suffered a gunshot wound, however it turned out to be an abrasion.
- A 15-year-old shot and killed two students and wounded 18 others at Marshall County High School in Benton, Kentucky. The shooter was arrested.
- Two 16-year-old students exchanged gun shots during a fight at Murphy High School in Alabama. There were no injuries and each were taken into custody.
- After a basketball game in Dearborn, Michigan, shots were fired in the parking lot by two nonstudents. The suspects were apprehended, and taken into custody.
- A 32-year-old man was shot and killed in the parking lot of Lincoln High School after police say two students from rival schools engaged in an altercation. No suspects were arrested.
- A young student (12 years-old) mistakenly fired a real gun thinking it was fake. Four students were reportedly injured, including one student who suffered a gunshot wound to the head. The 12-year-old girl was taken into custody.
- A teenager was shot by another student after an altercation broke out in the parking lot of Oxon Hill High School in Oxon, Maryland. The suspect was arrested and charged with attempted murder.
- A third-grader pulled the trigger of a police officer’s holstered weapon at the Harmony Learning Center in Maplewood, Minnesota. There were no injuries to report.
- A 17-year-old student was arrested for firing a gun into the floor of a classroom at Metropolitan High School in the Bronx, New York.
- The shooting at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
We obviously have to point out there are actually 19 instances of reported “school shootings” listed above, opposed to the 18 that the media has been reporting. That’s because the incident involving a pellet gun shattering a school bus window was ruled out as a “mass school shooting,” and frankly, a majority of the reported shootings above don’t necessarily “qualify” for what most people think of when they hear “school shooting.”
Allow us to be very clear: Every situation listed above is a major problem, but you could argue in most cases that they point to a much deeper, darker cultural problem in our nation’s mental health care system.
The main point of this article is to simply show that a mass school shooting isn’t happening every 2-3 weeks in America. It’s inaccurate and unfair reporting by news agencies and organizations with an anti-gun agenda.
This Facebook post by a Florida teacher has gained over 700,000 shares online, and depending on which side of the fence you stand on, she brings up some interesting points:
