Twenty-eight killed in 44 US school shootings since Newtown, study finds

Gun violence is erupting in America’s schools and colleges at a rate of more than three incidents a month, with 13 school shootings recorded in the first six weeks of 2014 alone, a new study on the impact of gun violence since the Newtown tragedy shows.

The analysis by groups campaigning for tighter gun controls in the US identifies at least 44 school and college shootings since Newtown in December 2012, when 20 children and six of their carers were killed in a Connecticut elementary school. The total death toll from the events over the 14 months since then is 28, surpassing that of Newtown itself.

The joint analysis by Moms Demand Action, a group of concerned citizens formed in the wake of Newtown, and Mayors Against Illegal Guns, was released in Washington on Wednesday in an attempt to kickstart the debate on gun control. The issue has slumped in the political agenda in recent months following congressional opposition spearheaded by the Republican leadership to reforms such as universal federal background checks on all gun purchases.

“We are a developed country, and we have to ask ourselves what is wrong with our culture and laws that’s creating an environment where not only do we have 44 school shootings in the past 14 months – but we are doing nothing about it,” said Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action.

Chris Murphy, Democratic senator for Connecticut, where Newtown happened, said in a statement: “We’re only six weeks into 2014, but already 13 schools have been forced to lock down under the threat of gun violence. No parent should have to fear for the life of their child when they drop them off at school.”

The new study, based on a trawl of newspaper and other public accounts, underlines the chronic nature of the gun problem in US schools and college campuses. The incidents occurred in 24 states across the country, with 28 shootings in elementary, middle and high schools and a further 16 in college or university campuses.

Almost half of the 44 shootings culminated in at least one death – including seven suicides, and 33 assaults or homicides. The nature of the shooters varied widely, with their ages ranging from five to 53.

In the case of the five-year-old, last August the boy brought a loaded gun in his backpack into kindergarten in Memphis Tennessee; it discharged without causing injury. The 53-year-old, Javier Burgos, is wanted in connection with the shooting deaths of two fellow custodians at Alexander W Drefoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida, last June.

One of the most alarming statistics revealed by the study is that of the 28 shootings that happened in elementary, middle or high schools, 20 of them involved shooters under 18. In addition to the five-year-old, two shooters were aged 12, one 13, one 15 and three 16.

Twelve-year-old Jose Reyes fatally shot his teacher and wounded two other students at his middle school in Sparks, Nevada last October before killing himself. He used a 9mm semi-automatic Ruger handgun he had found unlocked in a case above the refrigerator at home.

Though the shooters are disparate in age, one common factor that many shared was that, like Reyes, they obtained their weapons at home. Three-quarters of the incidents in which it was possible to determine the source of the firearm involved guns brought from the shooter’s home.

That tallies with Newtown itself, in which the shooter at Sandy Hook elementary school, Adam Lanza, wielded guns from his home that were owned by his mother.

Watts said the issue of gun safety in the home was clearly a big issue. “We have to insist on parents being held liable when their child gains access to a gun. That is not an ‘accident’; it is criminal negligence, and families must be held accountable.”

In the 14 months since Newtown many schools and colleges across the US have tightened their security drills. Some have heeded the advice of the National Rifle Association which notoriously called just days after the Newtown massacre for armed guards to be placed in every school.

Others have gone further and debated allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons in the classroom.