United States Secret Service
NATIONAL THREAT ASSESSMENT CENTER
PROTECTING AMERICA’S SCHOOLS/ANALYSIS OF TARGETED SCHOOL VIOLENCE/2019
59
1
National Threat Assessment Center. (2018). Enhancing school safety using a threat assessment model: An operational guide for preventing targeted school violence. U.S.
Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security.
2
It should be noted that homicides rarely occur at schools in the United States. During the 2015–2016 school year, the most recent year for which data are available, about
1% of school-aged youth homicides in the United States occurred in a school setting; found in Musu, L., Zhang, A., Wang, K., Zhang, J., and Oudekerk, B.A. (2019). Indicators
of school crime and safety: 2018. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved October 19, 2019, from
https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019047.pdf.
3
Vossekuil, B., Fein, R., Reddy, M., Borum, R., & Modzeleski, W. (2002). The final report and findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the prevention of school
attacks in the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education.
4
A former student was dened as a student who left the targeted school within the previous year and no longer attended a K-12 school, or a student who was currently enrolled
in any K-12 school and targeted a school he or she had previously attended. For example, while the perpetrator of the 2012 attack at an elementary school in Newtown, CT
was a former student, that attack was not included in the data for this report as the perpetrator had not attended a K-12 school in over three years prior to his attack.
5
National Center for Education Statistics. (2019). CCD public school data 2017-2018, 2018-2019 school years. Retrieved October 18, 2019, from https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/.
6
Public School Review. (2019). Average public school student:teacher ratio. Retrieved October 18, 2019, from
https://www.publicschoolreview.com/average-student-teacher-ratio-stats/national-data.
7
National Center for Education Statistics. (2019). CCD public school data 2017-2018, 2018-2019 school years. Retrieved October 18, 2019, from https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/.
8
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). 1992–2016 School-Associated Violent Death Surveillance System (SAVD-SS) (partially funded by the U.S. Department of
Education, Ofce of Safe and Healthy Students). Unpublished tabulation. Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/crimeindicators/ind_01.asp.
9
One attack did not have clear information available on the incident duration and was categorized as “unknown.”
10
One school-aged victim was not enrolled as a student at the school where the attack occurred. She was enrolled in a different high school and was attending prom at the
targeted school at the time of the attack.
11
The status of one of the attackers is unknown.
12
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (2017). 10 leading causes of death by age group, United States - 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2019, from www.cdc.gov:
https://www.cdc.gov/injury/images/lc-charts/leading_causes_of_death_by_age_group_2017_1100w850h.jpg.
13
For one incident that involved planning behaviors, the timespan of the planning behaviors was not available.
14
Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. (2018). Minimum age to purchase and possess. Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://lawcenter.giffords.org/gun-laws/
policy-areas/who-can-have-a-gun/minimum-age/#federal.
15
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Many children lack access to mental health care. Retrieved October 19, 2019, from
https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/documents/access-infographic.html.
16
One of the attackers with suicidal ideations was not included in the psychological symptoms category due to a lack of additional symptoms indicative of a psychological or
emotional health disorder. However, the attacker did experience a number of behavioral symptoms and he was appropriately included in that category.
17
Kjelsberg, E. (2006). Exploring the link between conduct disorder in adolescence and personality disorders in adulthood. Psychiatric Times, 23(8). Retrieved October 19, 2019,
from https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/exploring-link-between-conduct-disorder-adolescence-and-personality-disorders-adulthood.
18
Felitti, V.J, Anda, R.F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D.F., Spitz, A.M., Edwards, V., Koss, M.P., & Marks, J.S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household
dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 14(4):245-58.
19
Moore, K., Sacks, V., Bandy, T., & Murphey, D. (2014). Fact sheet: Adverse childhood experiences and the well-being of adolescents. Retrieved October 18, 2019, from
https://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Fact-sheet-adverse-childhood-experiences_FINAL.pdf.
20
Dallaire, D.H., & Wilson, L.C. (2010). The relation of exposure to parental criminal activity, arrest, and sentencing to children’s maladjustment. Journal of Child and Family
Studies, 19, 404-418.
21
Smith, V.C., & Wilson, C.R. (2016). Families affected by parental substance use. Pediatrics, 138(2).
22
Grant, K.E., Compas B.E., Stuhlmacher A.F., Thurm A.E., McMahon S.D., & Halpert J.A. (2003). Stressors and child and adolescent psychopathology: Moving from
markers to mechanisms of risk. Psychological Bulletin, 129(3), 447-66.
23
Shonkoff, J.P., & Garner, A.S. (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129, e232-e246.
24
Miller, A.J. (n.d.). Stress as a factor in family violence. Retrieved October 18, 2019, from https://www.unicef-irc.org/article/984-stress-as-a-factor-in-family-violence.html.
25
Sontag, L.M., Graber, J.A., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Warren, M.P. (2008). Coping with social stress: Implications for psychopathology in young adolescent girls. Journal of Abnormal
Child Psychology, 36(8), 1159–1174.
26
This denition was adapted from the denitions found in: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2019). What is bullying? Retrieved October 19, 2019, from
https://www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/index.html; Gladden, R.M., Vivolo-Kantor, A.M., Hamburger, M.E., & Lumpkin, C.D. (2014). Bullying surveillance among youths:
Uniform definitions for public health and recommended data elements (Version 1.0). Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov.
27
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2019). Facts about bullying. Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://www.stopbullying.gov/media/facts/index.html.
28
These terms were adapted from the denitions found in: Gladden, R.M., Vivolo-Kantor, A.M., Hamburger, M.E., & Lumpkin, C.D. (2014). Bullying surveillance among youths:
Uniform definitions for public health and recommended data elements (Version 1.0). Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov.
29
For one attacker, there was insufcient information to assess their social life.
30
National Threat Assessment Center. (2018). Enhancing school safety using a threat assessment model: An operational guide for preventing targeted school violence. U.S.
Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security.
31
Kanan, L., Nicoletti, J., Garrido, S., & Dvoskina, M. (2016). A review of psychological safety and threat assessment issues related to the shooting at [high school name] on
December 13, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://www.safeandsoundschools.org/additional-resources-threat-assessment/.
32
National Threat Assessment Center (2019). Mass attacks in public spaces - 2018. U.S. Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security.
33
Croft M., Moore, R., Guffy, G. (2019). Creating safe schools: Examining student perceptions of their physical safety at school. Retrieved October 19, 2019, from
https://www.act.org/content/act/en/research/pdfs/R1767-school-safety-brief.html.
34
U.S. Department of Justice. (n.d.). School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP). Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://cops.usdoj.gov/svpp.
Production photo credits
Cover image courtesy: Bill Chizek/Flag/Getty, Table of contents image courtesy: Code6d/Topics/Getty, School bus image courtesy: Edward Shackleford/Bus/Getty,
Student lunch image courtesy: Kali9/Concepts/Getty, Classroom image courtesy: Skynesher/School Building/Getty, Police line image courtesy: Carlballou/Manufactured Object/Getty,
Lady justice image courtesy: Querbeet/Fictional Character/Getty, Student at school entrance image courtesy: Monkeybusiness Images/Educational/Getty, Bullying image courtesy: FatCamera/Harassment/Getty,
Troubled student image courtesy: Izusek/Young Adult/Getty, Student detention image courtesy: LumiNola/Ethnicity/Getty, Troubled student at lockers image courtesy: Josh Blake/Human Age/Getty
Revised December 3, 2019