SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
SCHOOL
CASUALTIES
VULNERABILITIES (as assessed by students)
STATUS OF SHOOTERS
Columbine HS, 1999
Killed: 13; injured: 21
PRI - Mental Health; SEC - Security; TER - Intelligence
Current students; each
committed suicide at
the scene
INCIDENT OVERVIEW
● On April 20, two students murdered twelve other students and one teacher. Ten of the twelve students killed were in the school
library, where the shooters subsequently committed suicide. Twenty-one additional people were injured by gunshots, and gunfire was
also exchanged with the police. The police were slow to enter the school and were heavily criticized for not intervening during the
shooting.
Prelude to Shooting
● The incident was planned for at least a year and was intended to kill or injure many students by detonating a bomb, shooting students
as they tried to escape.
● The shooters planned the attack for at least a year and hoped to have many victims, intended for the attack to primarily be a bombing
and only secondarily a shooting. But when several homemade bombs they planted in the school failed to detonate, the pair launched
a shooting attack. Their motive remains inconclusive.
● Beginning in early 1997, their blog postings began to show the first signs of anger against society. By the end of the year, the site
contained instructions on how to make explosives. The site attracted few visitors and caused no concern until August 1997, after one
of the shooters ended a blog post detailing murderous fantasies with "All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you as I can,
especially a few people.
● The website specifically named Brooks Brown - a classmate of his. After Brown's parents viewed the site, they contacted the Jefferson
County Sheriff's Office on August 7, 1997. An investigator wrote a draft affidavit to request a search warrant for the Harris household,
but it was never submitted to a judge
● On January 30, 1998, the shooters were arrested for breaking into a white van parked near Littleton and stealing tools and computer
equipment. They would subsequently attend a joint court hearing, where they pled guilty to the felony theft. The judge sentenced
them to a juvenile diversion program. As a result, both delinquents attended mandatory classes such as anger management and
talked with diversion officers. They both were eventually released from diversion several weeks early because of positive actions in
the program and put on probation
● The shooter's schoolwork also foreshadowed the massacre. They both displayed themes of violence in their creative writing projects.
In December 1997, Harris wrote a paper on school shootings titled "Guns in School", and a poem from the perspective of a bullet.
One of the students wrote a short story about a man killing students which worried his teacher so much that she alerted his parents.
● The shooters made video tapes that detailed their plans and reasons for the impending massacre, including the ways they would hide
their weapons and deceived their parents. Most were shot in the Harris family basement, and are thus known as the Basement
Tapes. Thirty minutes before the attack, they made a final video saying goodbye and apologizing to their friends and families
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SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
● The students created a website that contained instructions on making pipe bombs and Molotov’s, and the extensive use of shrapnel.
On the morning of the shooting, the shooters placed two duffel bags in the cafeteria. Each bag contained propane bombs, set to
detonate during the "A" lunch shift. No witness recalled seeing the duffel bags being added to the 400 or so backpacks that were
already in the cafeteria. The security staff at CHS did not observe the bags being placed in the cafeteria.
● Tn the months prior to the attacks, the students acquired two 9mm firearms and two 12-gauge shotguns, a semi-automatic handgun
with one 52-, one 32-, and one 28-round magazine. In addition to the firearms, the complex and highly planned attack involved
several improvised explosive devices, and they constructed a total of 99 bombs.
● The shooter’s plan was detailed in their diaries and in a ledger that outlined their daily efforts to acquire guns and make bombs for a
suicide mission, which the shooters fantasized would end in a disastrous plane crash. The plan eventually changed, and they set their
sights on Columbine High School. They selected the time of day when the maximum number of students would be in the cafeteria or
studying in the library and hoped to destroy the school with a homemade propane bomb. The day to “rock and roll,” as a notation in
their ledger noted, would be April 20, Adolf Hitler’s birthday. The plan centered on one finality: both Harris and Klebold would end
the rampage by ending their own lives.
● In late 1998, the shooters obtained two shotguns and a 9mm semiautomatic carbine from their eighteen-year-old friend Robyn
Anderson, who had purchased the weapons legally at a gun show. On January 23, 1999, the two young men met a former Columbine
student, twenty-two-year-old Mark Manes, at another gun show. Manes purchased a TEC-DC9 semiautomatic handgun and sold it to
the boys for $500. On the night of April 19, 1999, Manes sold Harris 100 rounds of 9mm ammunition for twenty-five dollars.
● Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputy Neil Gardner was assigned to the high school as a full-time school resource officer. Gardner usually
ate lunch with students in the cafeteria, but on April 20 he was eating lunch in his patrol car at the northwest corner of the campus,
watching students in the Smokers' Pit in Clement Park, a meadow adjacent to the school.
The Shooting
● The beginning of the shooting was marked by one of the shooters tossing a pipe bomb into the parking lot which partially detonated,
catching the attention of surrounding students who were on their lunch break. Many students were confused, thinking it was a part of
some sort of senior prank, while others took note of their trench coats and concealed weapons, beginning to run from the parking lot.
The shooters began methodically moving from the parking lot to the school building, entered the cafeteria and the library, where they
shot indiscriminately at students, killing, wounding, and paralyzing many.
● The first victim claimed by the shooting was 17-year-old Rachel Scott, who was shot while eating lunch with a friend in front of the
entrance to the from the parking lot.
● The shooters proceeded to enter the school, making their way to the cafeteria. Upon entering, they were shooting at students in the
hallway who were under the impression that their guns were paintball guns, thus continuing to walk towards them. One of these
students was sophomore Lance Kirklin, who was shot four times, lying on the floor, calling out for help, when one of the shooters
stood above him and said “Sure man I’ll help you”, to which he shot him in the face.
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SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
● The shooters passed through the cafeteria and made their way to the staircase leading up to the library, according to ABC News,
witnesses say they were laughing and shouting positive things such as “This is what we always wanted to do! This is awesome
● At this point in the shooting, the police were made aware that there were shooters in the school through a custodian staff member
calling the head deputy. Two of the deputies who had arrived were in the process of rescuing two injured students on a hilltop
adjacent to the school when the shooter noticed the police officers and went back over to the entrance and began shooting at the
deputies. They began shooting back, and after one of the deputies had fired three rounds of his ammo, the shooter retreated back
inside, with no one hit.
● The next area of the school the shooters approached was the library, where 52 students, 2 teachers and 2 librarians were hiding. In
the library, they had an agenda, in which they were targeting students of color, and anyone who played a sport at the school. They left
at around 11:36 am, proceeding to toss pipe bombs in the hallway as they were heading back down to the cafeteria. They made
rounds around the school, storming down hallways and looking in classrooms before re-entering the library, which was mostly empty
of students except for those who could not move due to their injuries.
● The shooters walked out of the library at 11:36. After leaving the library, they entered the science area, where they caused a fire in an
empty storage closet. It was extinguished by a teacher who had hidden in an adjacent room.
[147]
The gunmen then proceeded toward
the south hallway, where they shot into an empty science room. At 11:44 a.m., they were captured on the school security cameras as
they re-entered the cafeteria. The recording shows one of the shooters crouching against the rail on the staircase and firing toward
the propane bombs left in the cafeteria, in an unsuccessful attempt to detonate them. As the other approached the propane bomb
and examined it, a shooter took a drink from one of the cups left behind. The other lit a Molotov cocktail and threw it at the propane
bomb. About a minute later, the gallon of fuel attached to the bomb ignited, causing a fire that was extinguished by the fire
sprinklers a few minutes later. They left the cafeteria at 11:46.
● They re-entered the library, which was empty of survivors except for the unconscious Ireland and the injured Kreutz. Once inside, at
12:02 p.m., police were shot at again through the library windows and returned fire. Nobody was injured in the exchange.
[98]
By 12:05,
all gunfire from the school had ceased. By 12:08 p.m., both gunmen had killed themselves. One sat down with his back to a bookshelf
and fired his shotgun through the roof of his mouth; the other went down on his knees and shot himself in the left temple with his
TEC-9.
The Aftermath
● In December 1999, before anyone besides investigators had seen them, Time magazine published an article on the tapes. The victims'
family members threatened to sue Jefferson County. As a result, select victim families and journalists were allowed to view them,
though the tapes were then withheld from the public and, in 2011, destroyed for fear of inspiring future massacres.
● Many concluded that the killers had mental illnesses, that Harris was a clinical psychopath, and Klebold had depression. Some
claimed that the psychiatric medications prescribed to Harris may have exacerbated his aggressiveness. Harris had complained of
depression, anger, and suicidal thoughts, for which he was prescribed antidepressants. Toxicology reports confirmed that Harris had
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SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
Luvox in his bloodstream at the time of the shootings, whereas Klebold had no medications in his system. Harris continued his
scheduled meetings with his psychologist until a few months before the massacre.
SUMMARY OF VULNERABILITIES THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE INCIDENT:
● Student book bags, backpacks not checked. (SECURITY)
● concealed guns/weapons carried onto campus. (SECURITY)
● weapons smuggled into school prior to the incident. (SECURITY)
● security officers absent or not prepared; failure to immediately engage shooter. (SECURITY)
● Very disturbed young men, heavily medicated, limited monitoring (MENTAL HEALTH)
● Detailed plans widely discussed on social media and in classrooms (INTELLIGENCE)
OVERALL VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT - (4) School Administration
Although Columbine was the first in the series of contemporary mass-casualty shootings, the evidence suggests that the shooters - very
disturbed - made their intentions well known prior to the incident, which also suggests an intelligence failure. All of this was compounded by
a significant failure of security to notice the guns and bombs smuggled onto the campus.
However, the apparent inability of the school to assess the effectiveness of its safety programs, or to closely monitor and interact with
obviously disturbed students suggest that the overriding vulnerability was the inattention of the school administration and the failure to
examine the evidence that appears to have been plainly evident. Had the school policy on guns been rigidly enforced, had the students
mental health condition and their medications been monitored by school health officials, and had the school enforced a security policy of
preventing guns and bombs on campus - the outcome may have been significantly different.
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SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
SCHOOL
CASUALTIES
VULNERABILITIES (as assessed by students)
STATUS OF SHOOTER
West Nickel HS, 2006
Killed : 5; injured: 5
PRI - Security; SEC – Mental Health; TER none
INCIDENT OVERVIEW:
● Shooter, a 32-year-old milk truck driver from a nearby town, entered the one-room schoolhouse at around 10:30 a.m. armed with an
arsenal of weapons, ammunition, tools, and other items including toilet paper that indicated he planned for the possibility of a long
standoff.
Prelude to Shooting
● When State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller interviewed the shooter's co-workers, they claimed to have noticed a "change" in him
during the months immediately prior to the shooting. They also claimed that he seemed to return to normal in the week just before the
shooting. Miller hypothesizes that this "calm" may have been when he decided to go through with the shooting. Miller also noted that the
sooter’s neighbors reported his mood as unusually jovial during this time period.
● Shooter spoke briefly with his wife by cell phone and said he was upset with God over the death of his baby daughter in 1997. He also
told her he had molested two girls 20 years earlier and was having fantasies about molesting children again. At approximately 11 a.m.,
Shooter spoke with a 911 dispatcher and said if the police didn’t leave, he’d start shooting.
● In one note the shooter left behind, he said the death of their daughter, who died approximately 20 minutes after birth nine years before
the shooting, had "changed my life forever." In that note, he also said that, since her death, he had been "filled with so much hate" toward
himself and God. He also stated that he had "been having dreams for the past couple of years about doing what he did 20 years ago and he
has dreams of doing them again.
● On October 4, 2006, the two relatives whom Roberts said he molested 20 years ago told police that no such abuse had ever happened,
resulting in even greater confusion concerning the gunman's motive and mental state. K-Y Jelly, a lubricant often used as an aid to sexual
intercourse, was also found in the schoolhouse among Roberts' belongings, possibly suggesting an ulterior motive for the incident.
[3]
The Shooting
● Shooter forced the 15 boys and several women with infants inside the school to leave and made the 11 girls present line up against
the blackboard. Shooter barricaded the school doors with boards he had brought with him and tied up his hostages. Shortly before he
began shooting, two sisters, ages 13 and 11, requested that they be shot first, so that the others might be spared. One was wounded,
while the other was killed. Shooter then began to systematically execute the girls, killing four and wounding seven before killing
himself.
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SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
● At approximately 11:07 a.m., Roberts began shooting the victims. State troopers immediately approached. As the first trooper in line
reached a window, the shooting stopped abruptly; Roberts had committed suicide. During the shooting, he fired at least 13 rounds from his
pistol.
[11]
Seconds after, he shot five of the students. When authorities stormed the schoolhouse, Shooter shot himself in the head.
● Shooter, a father of three, had no criminal history or record of mental illness. Additionally, his family knew nothing about his claims
that he had molested two young female relatives.
OVERALL VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT: School Administration (4)
● Shooter was able to enter a one-room schoolhouse in a rural community and methodically bring in weapons and other material used
in the execution. Obviously, a security presence at the school would have made a difference. Unfortunately, in 2005, understanding
of security needs in rural schools was in its infancy.
● Security was light in this one-room Amish school house, but law enforcement was on the scene quickly. Still, the shooter should not
have been able to take the time to set up the scene with the weapons and material he used in the execution. No awareness of
mental health problems and no reason that the school should have been. No previous involvement with the school. No prior
warnings or leakage.
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SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
SCHOOL
CASUALTIES
VULNERABILITIES (as assessed by
students)
RED LAKE HS,
2005
Killed : 7; injured: 7
PRI – Mental Health; SEC – Intel; TER Security
INCIDENT OVERVIEW:
● The Red Lake shootings occurred on March 21, 2005, in two places on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Red
Lake, Minnesota, United States. That afternoon, a 16-year-old shooter killed his grandfather (an Ojibwe tribal
police sergeant) and his grandfather's girlfriend at their home.
● After taking his grandfather's police weapons and bulletproof vest, the shooter drove his grandfather's police
vehicle to Red Lake Senior High School, where he had been a student.
● Shooter shot and killed seven people at the school and wounded five others. The dead included an unarmed
security guard at the entrance of the school, a teacher, and five students. After the police arrived, the shooter
exchanged gunfire with them. After being wounded, he shot and killed himself in a classroom.
Prelude to the Shooting
● Jeffrey Weise was labeled an outsider in the Red Lake community and had recently been placed in "homebound"
schooling for breaking school rules.
● The day of the shootings, Weise retrieved a Ruger MK II .22 caliber pistol from his bedroom and fatally shot his
grandfather as he was sleeping; he shot him two times in the head and ten times in the chest.
● According to Weise's friends, the teenager may have had the gun for as long as a year. He took Lussier's two
police-issue weapons, a .40 caliber Glock 23 pistol and a 12 gauge Remington 870 pump-action shotgun, a gun belt and
a bulletproof vest. Weise then fatally shot Sigana, his grandfather's girlfriend, two times in the head as she carried
laundry up the stairs.
● Weise was often bullied or teased in school by classmates. A tall youth weighing 250 pounds (115 kg), he was known to
wear dark eyeliner, as well as a long black trench coat and other black clothing to school year round.He was referred to
as a "goth kid" by many of his classmates.
● Weise was prescribed Prozac as an antidepressant, to be continued as treatment together with counseling. His doctor
had increased his dosage a week before the shooting, to 60 mg a day of Prozac.
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SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
The Shooting
● After killing his grandfather, the shooter then drove his grandfather's squad car to Red Lake Senior High School. As
he entered the school through the main entrance, he encountered two unarmed security guards manning a metal
detector. Shooter shot and killed one security guard, while the other security guard escaped without injury.
● The shooter then discovered that he could shoot the glass beside the door to gain access, which he did, and then
walked into her classroom. Once inside this room, Shooter began shooting at the students. In this classroom he
shot and killed five students, severely wounded two others, and wounded one more. He also shot and killed the
English teacher.The shooter then returned back to the Math classroom as law enforcement responders entered
the scene. During an exchange of shoots, the gunman received several gunshot wounds. Once wounded, the
shooter took the shotgun and fatally shot himself.
● Shooter began shooting into an English classroom, killing three students and one teacher, and wounding three
students. One student said that Chase Lussier sheltered her and was one of those shot and killed/. May, a
16-year-old sophomore, tried to wrestle the shooter inside the classroom and stabbed him in the stomach with
a pencil. May's diversion allowed students to flee the classroom to safety, but the shooter shot him two times in
the neck and once in the jaw, leaving him seriously injured.
● At around 2:52 p.m., Shooter returned to the main entrance, where he killed two students and wounded two
others. The police had arrived quickly and engaged him in gunfire. FBI Special Agent Paul McCabe said the
shootout lasted for about four minutes. None of the police officers were injured. After being hit three times in the
lower back, right leg, and right arm by police gunfire, Weise retreated to the classroom where he had shot and
killed the teacher and students. Remaining students in the class witnessed him lean against a wall, put the
shotgun barrel to his chin, and fire, killing himself.
[1]
● The shootings lasted nine minutes. Weise fired a total of 59 shots during the shooting spree; 14 at his
grandfather's home and 45 at the school. He fired 37 rounds from his grandfather's Glock handgun, 14 from his
Ruger handgun, and eight from the shotgun.
The Aftermath
● On July 21, 2006, the Red Lake school district reached a settlement with the families of the massacre victims. The
school district agreed to pay $1,000,000 total to 21 of the victims' families, the maximum amount allowed by
Minnesota law. According to the lawsuits, MacNeil was supposed to help the Red Lake School District implement
a five-year program starting in fall 2001 to provide a crisis management plan, train school officials and evaluate
the school's security weaknesses. The lawsuits claimed MacNeil failed to develop a plan as recommended by the
U.S. Department of Education and provided the school district with plans that were confusing and contained
conflicting directions for staff.
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SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
SUMMARY OF VULNERABILITIES THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE INCIDENT:
● Shooter access to guns
● Shooter was able to move throughout the school during the incident
● Glass windows enabled breach of the door.
● Ineffective crisis management plan in place
● Information about the shooter's intent was not taken seriously.
● Mental health warnings not taken seriously.
OVERALL VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT: School Administration (4)
In 2005, school administrators were, in general, directly not engaged and the overall security plan appears to have been
form over substance. In Red Lake, security was available but not intense - hence the million-dollar settlements paid to the
victims. There also was no apparent school engagement or follow up the various warning indicators and leakage that
preceded the fact.
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SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
SCHOOL
CASUALTIES
VULNERABILITIES (as assessed by students)
STATUS OF SHOOTER
SANDY HOOK ELM,
2012
Killed : 26; injured: 2
PRI – Intel; SEC – Mental Health; TER Security
Previously attended
school (10 years prior);
suicide at the scene
INCIDENT OVERVIEW:
● The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a mass casualty incident that occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown
Connecticut, when a 20-year-old former student shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and
seven years old, and the other six were adult staff members.
Prelude to the Shooting
● Under Connecticut law at the time, the 20-year-old shooter was old enough to carry a long gun, such as a rifle or shotgun, but too young to
own or carry handguns. The guns he used had been purchased legally by his mother
● The school's security protocols had recently been upgraded, requiring visitors to be individually admitted after visual and identification
review by video monitor. Doors to the school were locked at 9:30 a.m. each day, after morning arrivals
● Before driving to the school, the shooter shot and killed his mother at their Newtown home. As first responders arrived at the school,
Lanza died by suicide, shooting himself in the head.
The Shooting
● Shortly after 9:35 a.m., armed with his mother's Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle and ten magazines with 30 rounds each, the gunman
shot his way through a glass panel next to the locked front entrance doors of the school. Gunman immediately shot the principal and
school psychologist.
● Shooter entered a first-grade classroom where a substitute teacher had herded her first-grade students to the back of the room, and
was trying to hide them in a bathroom and forced his way into the classroom. Fifteen students were killed. Most were found crowded
together in the bathroom.
● The shooter entered Room 8, a first-grade classroom where Lauren Rousseau, a substitute teacher, had herded her first-grade students to
the back of the room, and was trying to hide them in a bathroom, when the shooter forced his way into the classroom. Rousseau, Rachel
D'Avino (a behavioral therapist who had been employed for a week at the school to work with a special needs student), and fifteen students
in Rousseau's class were killed. Fourteen of the children were dead at the scene; one injured child was taken to a hospital for treatment but
was later declared dead. Most of the teachers and students were found crowded together in the bathroom. A six-year-old girl, the sole
survivor, was found by police in a corner of the classroom's bathroom during the shooting; she survived by playing dead.
● The shooter also went to Room 10, another first-grade classroom nearby, walked to the back of the classroom, saw the children under the
desks, and shot them. According to some reports, the classroom's teacher, Victoria Leigh Soto, had concealed some of the students in a
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SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
closet or bathroom, and some of the other students were hiding under desks. The shooter walked to the ack of the classroom, saw the
children under the desks, and shot them.
● A Hartford Courant report said that six of the children who escaped did so when The shooter stopped shooting, either because his weapon
jammed or he erred in reloading it. Earlier reports said that, as the shooter entered her classroom, Soto told him that the children were in
the auditorium. When several of the children came out of their hiding places and tried to run for safety, the shooter fatally shot them. Soto
put herself between her students and the shooter, who then fatally shot her. Anne Marie Murphy, the special education teacher who
worked with special-needs students in Soto's classroom, was found covering six-year-old Dylan Hockley, who also died. Soto and four
children were found dead in the classroom. Soto was near the north wall of the room with a set of keys nearby. One child was taken to the
hospital but was pronounced dead. Six surviving children from the class and a school bus driver took refuge at a nearby home. According to
the official report released by the state's attorney, nine children ran from Soto's classroom, and police found two hiding in a class bathroom.
Five of Soto's students were killed.
● Shooter also went to Room 10, another first-grade classroom nearby saw the children under the desks, and shot them. (Note that the
final report into the shooting concluded that the sequence of events in Rooms 8 and 10 was "indeterminate".
● The police heard the final shot at 9:40:03 a.m. They believed that it was Lanza shooting himself in the lower rear portion of his head with
the Glock 20SF in classroom 10. Lanza's body was found wearing a pale green pocket vest over a black polo shirt, over a black T-shirt, black
sneakers, black fingerless gloves, black socks, and a black canvas belt. Other objects found in the vicinity of Lanza included a black boonie
hat and thin frame glasses. The Glock was found, apparently jammed, near Lanza, and the rifle was found several feet away from him. A
9mm SIG Sauer P226, which had not been fired during the incident, was found on Lanza's person.
Police Response
● The first call to 911 was around 9:35 a.m. Newtown 911 police dispatch first broadcast that there was a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary
School (SHES) at 9:36 a.m., about 30 seconds after they received the first cal were dispatched at 9:37 a.m. Newtown police arrived at the
school street at 9:39 a.m., approximately three-and-a-half minutes after the 911 call, and Connecticut State Police arrived at the school
street at 9:46 a.m. Newtown police first entered the school at 9:45 a.m., approximately nine minutes after the first 911 call and
approximately ten minutes after the shooting started. This was approximately five minutes after the last shot was heard. No shots were
fired by the police
Aftermath
● On March 28, 2013, court documents released from the investigation showed that the shooting had occurred in the space of fewer than five
minutes with 156 shots fired. This comprised 154 shots from the rifle and two shots from the 10mm pistol. Lanza fired one shot from the
Glock in the hallway and killed himself with another shot from the pistol to the head
● Authorities determined that Lanza reloaded frequently during the shootings, sometimes firing only 15 rounds from a 30-round magazine.
He shot all but two of his victim’s multiple times. Most of the shooting took place in two first-grade classrooms near the entrance of the
school.
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SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
● The students among the victims totaled eight boys and twelve girls, all either six or seven years old,
[90]
and the six adults were all women
who worked at the school. Bullets were also found in at least three cars parked outside the school, leading police to believe that he fired at
a teacher who was standing near a window. When police interviewed survivors, a teacher recalled hearing Lanza curse several times, as well
as say such things as, "Look at me!" and "Come over here!" and "Look at them!
● A November 2013 report issued by the Connecticut State Attorney's office concluded that the shooter acted alone and planned his
actions, but provided no indication why he did so, or why he targeted the school.
● A report issued by the Office of the Child Advocate in November 2014 said that the shooter had Asperger Syndrome and as a
teenager had depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, but concluded that they had "neither caused nor led to his
murderous acts". The report went on to say, "his severe and deteriorating internalized mental health problems [...] combined with an
atypical preoccupation with violence [...] (and) access to deadly weapons [...] proved a recipe for mass murder.
SUMMARY OF VULNERABILITIES THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE INCIDENT:
● No onsite security guards
● Lack of crisis management plan
TGM OVERRIDING VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT - (4) School Administration
Although some parents filed legal claims against the school for being inadequately prepared, the majority of legal actions were directed
against the maker of the weapons, and the families received a $73 million settlement from Remiington. Security issues were addressed, such
a lack of an on-site security guard and a crisis management plan, but no punitive action was taken.
Shooter gained entry by shooting through the glass panels on the side of locked doors. At the time (ten years after Columbine) security
officials should have been alert to this vulnerability - especially with no security guard on site.
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SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
SCHOOL
CASUALTIES
VULNERABILITIES (as assessed by students)
STATUS OF SHOOTER
MARYVILLE PILCHUCK HS,
2014
Killed : 4; injured: 1
PRI – Security.; SEC – Intel; TER Mental Health
Current Student; suicide
at the scene
INCIDENT OVERVIEW:
● The Marysville Pilchuck High School shooting occurred in Marysville, Washington, on October 24, 2014, when a 15-year-old freshman
student shot five students at Marysville Pilchuck High School, and fatally wounded four, (including a cousin) before shooting and
killing himself.
Prelude to the Shooting
● Prior to the shooting, the student invited several students, all of whom were friends, to meet him for lunch via text message. At
lunchtime, the invited students sat together at one table.
● Minutes prior to the shooting, he reportedly sent a group text message to his family and the families of his would-be victims. In it,
he apologized for his actions and laid out plans for his funeral
● A substitute teacher told police that on the Wednesday before the shooting, a student told her everyone was discussing a social
media post warning there would be a shooting in the cafeteria on Friday at 10 a.m.
● A federal agent told an officer that he interviewed students and learned that Fryberg “sent text messages to people saying he wanted
to kill (redacted name) and Andrew Fryberg, then he wanted to kill himself.” Andrew Fryberg, Dylan Fryberg’s cousin, was one of the
students killed in the shooting.
The Shooting
● The gunman then entered the school cafeteria and sat down at a different table, then stood up, approached the table where his
friends were sitting, and had a verbal altercation with them and began shooting, with a a .40-caliber Beretta Px4 Storm Subcompact
handgun.
● He appeared to be targeting only the table where his friends were sitting. At the time of the shooting, seven students were seated at
that table.
● The school resource officer was the first law enforcement officer to make contact with the victims, arriving at the scene a minute after
the first 9-1-1 call was received. A dispatcher then informed him about a report of a possible shooting in the cafeteria. The first
paramedics arrived on the scene ten minutes after the first radio dispatch.
● At the time of the shooting, approximately 150 people were inside the cafeteria. A vice-principal ordered the school to go
into lockdown. The victims were all identified as friends of Fryberg.
[5]
It was initially reported that at least six students were wounded.
[
● The gunman died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Aftermath
13
SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
● The motive for the shooting is unknown, although a student at the school stated that "[he] was angry at a girl who would not date
him, and that the girl was one of the people shot", a claim that was supported by other classmates and by family members.
● The student’s father was arrested and convicted the following year for illegally purchasing and owning the gun used in the shooting,
among other firearm offenses.
● A lawyer representing the families of the shooting victims, said the documents appear to confirm concerns about anecdotal
information they had previously received about the days and weeks leading up to the shooting, in particular a fight Fryberg had with
another football player and reports of bullying on campus.
● On March 31st, 2015, the shooter's father was arrested for purchasing five guns, including the Beretta handgun used during the
shootings. He repeatedly lied on a background check that there were no restrictions imposed against him in the purchases. A federal
jury found him guilty of knowingly owning firearms that he legally was forbidden to possess. On January 11th, 2016, he was
sentenced to 2 years in prison.
●
● In the wake of the shooting, threats were made against several students belonging to the Tulalip tribe, the Native American tribe
Fryberg belonged to. A spokesman for the Marysville School District stated that the school district was taking the threats
seriously. The school reopened on November 3, with about fifteen counselors present on campus.
[34]
● On September 2, 2015, more than 2,200 pages of investigative documents were released to the public by Snohomish County
authorities. They consisted of interviews with the shooter’s classmates, many of whom were feet away when Fryberg first
opened fire.
[36]
SUMMARY OF VULNERABILITIES THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE INCIDENT: (4) School Administration
Student carried a gun to school in the pocket of his coat as he approached the cafeteria table of 5 students in a planned shooting. No school
capability of preventing guns on campus. Also noted is the ease with which the shooter brought the gun to school and the lack of any
interaction with parents about guns in the homes and student access to those guns
14
SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
SCHOOL
CASUALTIES
VULNERABILITIES (as assessed by students)
STATUS OF SHOOTER
SANTA FE HS, 2018
Killed 10; injured: 13
PRI – Security; SEC; Mental Health; TER Intelligence
School Admin -
INCIDENT OVERVIEW
● On May 18, 2018, a school shooting occurred at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, in the Houston metropolitan area. Ten people
– eight students and two teachers – were fatally shot, and thirteen others were wounded. A 17-year-old student at the school was
taken into custody.
Prelude to the Indident
● The shooter used a short-barreled 12-gauge Remington Model 870 pump-action shotgun and a Rossi .38-caliber snub-nosed revolver.
Both firearms appear to have been legally owned by his father. Various types of explosive devices were found at the school and off
campus, as well as a Molotov cocktail
● The shooter kept journals on his computer and cell phone, found by police after the shooting, suggested to Governor Greg
Abbott "not only did he want to commit the shooting, but he wanted to commit suicide after the shooting, planned on doing this for
some time. He advertised his intentions but somehow slipped through the cracks.
● The media highlighted the shooter’s social media presence. On April 30, the shooter posted a photo of a shirt with the words "Born to
Kill" on his Facebook page.
School Preparations
● The Santa Fe Independent School District has an active shooter plan, and two armed police officers that interacted with students in
the school. In the year prior to the shooting, the school district leadership made plans to arm teachers and staff through the Texas
School Marshal Program.
The Shooting
● The gunman began firing a weapon into an art class at the school at 7:32 a.m. The incident occurred in the school's art complex,
which consists of four interconnected rooms with interior hallways, and four other rooms. Witnesses said the two targeted
classrooms are connected by a ceramics room that the shooter accessed by damaging a door window. During the shooting a staff
member pulled a fire alarm, causing most of the school to evacuate.
● One wounded victim told reporters the shooter walked into the classroom and pointed his firearm at another person, singing
"Another One Bites the Dust" in between shots. According to a witness, students barricaded themselves in the art classroom storage
closet but the shooter shot through the door with a shotgun. He left the art room briefly, causing students to leave the closet and
15
SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
attempt to barricade the art room door, but he pushed the door open. Upon spotting a student he knew, he said "Surprise!" and shot
the student in the chest.
● Santa Fe ISD Police officers stationed at the school exchanged fire with the shooter, with one officer being wounded and admitted in
critical condition to a local hospital. After the gunman shot into the ceramics room, he was engaged by another school officer and a
Texas Highway Patrol Trooper who attempted to have him surrender peacefully. He reportedly threatened to shoot the officers and
repeatedly fired rounds while arguing with the police.
● The shooting lasted about 25 minutes. The shooter surrendered to the officers after being injured.
Police Response
● The Galveston County Sheriff said officers confronted him within four minutes and allowed for the safe evacuation of other students
and faculty.
Aftermath
● After the shooting, the president of the school district's Board of Trustees said the district's policies and procedures worked, and that
it was not the failure of the procedures that accounted for the incident, adding someone intent on entering the school to create
havoc would be able to do so in any event.
● On November 4, 2019, the shooter was found by three experts to be unfit to stand trial. He has been in custody at North Texas State
Hospital since that date.
● The parents of victim Chris Stone filed a lawsuit against shooter’s parents, claiming that his father did not properly secure his
weapons and that the parents were negligent in entrusting their son with the firearms Under Texas law, guns cannot be made
accessible to minors outside hunting or under parental supervision, and the penalty can be up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine if the
weapon causes serious injury or death.
● The residents of Santa Fe largely declined media attention and also did not support political gun control actions
SUMMARY OF VULNERABILITIES THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE INCIDENT:
● Shooter access to guns
● Shooter was able to move throughout the school during the incident.
● School was not In contact with parents in the community about gun availability
TGM OVERRIDING VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT - (4) School Administration
Although Santa Fe police arrived quickly. Guns were easily brought on campus. No law enforcement officer was on the scene. Some parents
filed legal claims against the school for being inadequately prepared, the majority of legal actions were directed against the maker of the
weapons, and the families received a $73 million settlement from Remiington. Security issues were addressed, such a lack of an on-site
security guard and a crisis management plan, but no punitive action was taken.
16
SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
Shooter gained entry by shooting through the glass panels on the side of locked doors. At the time (ten years after Columbine) security
officials should have been alert to this vulnerability - especially with no security guard on site.
17
SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
SCHOOL
CASUALTIES
VULNERABILITIES (as assessed by students)
STATUS OF SHOOTER
Marjory Douglass
Stoneman HS, 2018
Killed :17; injured: 17
PRI - Intelligence; SEC – Security; TER Mental Health
Former Student
Life in Prison
INCIDENT OVERVIEW:
● On February 14, 2018, a 19-year-old former student opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in
the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others. The shooter fled the scene on foot by
blending in with other students and was arrested without incident approximately one hour and twenty minutes later.
● The Broward County Sheriff's Office received widespread criticism for its handling of the police response, both for not following up on
multiple warnings about the shooter despite a lengthy record of threatening behavior and for staying outside the school instead of
immediately confronting him. On October 20, 2021, the shooter pleaded guilty to all charges and apologized for his crimes. On
November 2, 2022, he was sentenced to life without parole.
Prelude to the Shooting
● The shooter had behavioral issues since preschool. He was transferred between schools six times in three years in an effort to deal
with these problems. He returned to Stoneman Douglas High School two years later but was expelled in 2017 for disciplinary reasons.
As he could not be expelled from the Broward County School system completely, he was transferred to alternative placement.
● The Florida Department of Children and Families investigated him in September 2016. At this time, a school resource officer
suggested he undergo an involuntary psychiatric examination In their assessment, they concluded he was "at low risk of harming
himself or others”. He had previously received mental health treatment, but had not received treatment in the year leading up to the
shooting.
● The Sheriff said that his office received 23 calls about Cruz during the previous decade, but this figure is in dispute. CNN used
a public records request to obtain a sheriff's office log, which showed that from 2008 to 2017, at least 45 calls were made in
reference to Cruz, his brother, or the family home. On February 5, 2016, the calls included an anonymous tip that Cruz had
threatened to shoot up the school, and a tip on November 30, 2017, that he might be a "school shooter in the making" and that
he collected knives and guns. On September 23, 2016, a peer counselor notified the school resource officer of his suicide
attempt and intent to buy a gun, and the school indicated it would do a "threat assessment".
● On September 24, 2017, a person with the username "nikolas cruz" posted a comment to a YouTube video that read, "I’m going
to be a professional school shooter." The person who uploaded the video to YouTube reported the comment to the FBI.
According to agent Robert Lasky, the Agency conducted database reviews but was unable to track down the individual who
made the threatening comment.
● On January 5, 2018, less than two months before the shooting, the FBI received a tip on its Public Access Line from a person
who was close to Cruz. On February 16, two days after the shooting, the agency released a statement that detailed this
information. According to the statement, "The caller provided information about Cruz's gun ownership, desire to kill people,
erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting." After
18
SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
conducting an investigation, the FBI said the tip line did not follow protocol when the information was not forwarded to the Miami
Field Office, where investigative steps would have been taken. The FBI opened a probe into the tip line's operations.
● Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel described Cruz's online profiles and accounts as "very, very disturbing". They contained pictures
and posts of him with a variety of weapons, including long knives, a shotgun, a pistol, and a BB gun. Police said that he held
"extremist" views; social media accounts that were thought to be linked to him contained anti-black and anti-Muslim slurs. Items
recovered by police at the scene.
School Preparation
● No information available
The Shooting
● The shooter was dropped off at the school by an Uber driver at 2:19 p.m. 20 minutes before dismissal time. According to a police
report, The shooter was carrying a rifle case and a backpack. He was spotted and recognized by a campus monitor who radioed a
colleague that he was walking "purposefully" toward Building 12. The campus monitor did not declare a Code Red lockdown and sent
a radio message to a colleague inside Building 12, which the shooter had entered. The school's policies did not specify clearly who
could order a lockdown, and staff had been trained not to order a lockdown unless they saw a gun or heard shots being fired.
● The shooter entered Building 12, a three-story structure containing 30 classrooms typically occupied by about 900 students and 30
teachers. Armed with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle and multiple magazines, he entered a hallway and began firing
indiscriminately at students and teachers. The shooter fired through the windows of four closed classroom doors, killing six more
students and wounding thirteen others. Out of the seventeen killed, fourteen were students while three were faculty members.
● After he stopped shooting, the shooter dropped his rifle on the third floor of the building and left the scene by blending in with
fleeing students. He then walked to a fast-food restaurant, stopping at a mall to get a soda on the way, and lingered before leaving at
3:01 p.m. At about 3:40 p.m., police stopped the shooter 2 miles (3.2 km) from the school.
Aftermath
● In 2021, the families of the victims of the shooting were awarded a $25 million settlement from the Broward County School District,
after a civil lawsuit was filed by the families of the 52 victims alleging the school district's negligence was to blame. Later in the year, it
was announced that the families of the victims had reached a $125 to $130 million settlement with the federal government, due to
the FBI's inactivity about tips on the shooter’s stated desire to commit a school attack and the weapons cache that he had. The tip
had been through the FBI tip line a month prior to the shooting and detailed the shooter’s gun ownership, desire to kill others, erratic
behavior, and social media posts, and was not followed up on by investigators.
19
SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
SUMMARY VULNERABILITIES THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE INCIDENT:
● Mental health warnings for several years
● Actionable intelligence warning immediately before the incident
● School security officials aware of the danger posed by the shooter
● Delays and missteps once the attack began
● Weapons casually brought on school grounds
● Failure of law enforcement to aggressively engage.
TGM OVERRIDING VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT - (4) School Administration
Although many factors clearly contributed to this tragedy, the fact that parents received a $125 Million settlement with Broward school
district suggests that the school vulnerabilities were clear. The lawsuits claimed that the Broward County Public Schools failed to keep
students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School safe in spite of warning signs that the shooting suspect, Nikolas Cruz, a former
student, had threatened violence against the school community.
.
20
SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
SCHOOL
CASUALTIES
VULNERABILITIES (as assessed by students)
STATUS OF SHOOTER
Oxford HS, 2021
Killed 4; injured: 7
PRI – External; SEC; Intelligence; TER Mental Health
Student; serving a
prison term
21
SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
INCIDENT OVERVIEW
● On November 30, 2021, a terrorist mass shooting occurred at Oxford High School in the Detroit exurb of Oxford Township, Michigan.
A 15-year-old student, armed with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, murdered four students and injured seven people, including a
teacher.
● Authorities arrested and charged the shooter as an adult for 24 crimes, including murder and terrorism. Shooter pleaded guilty to all
of the charges in October 2022.
Prelude to the Shooting
● Oxford High School used the active shooter drill known as ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate), which uses
proactive strategies to evade a gunman, such as using noise as a distraction and creating distance. The teachers were also
trained to use a barrier at the base of the door called Nightlock, which was installed on every door of the school in 2017.
● According to students and parents, rumors regarding threats of a mass shooting occurring at the school were circulating before
the incident occurred, prompting some students to stay home on the day of the shooting.
● Earlier that month, in response to an act of vandalism that included a severed deer head being thrown off the school roof and
into the courtyard, school administrators published a note to parents, saying they had been investigating the rumors but found
no threat. Oakland County Sheriff said his office was not aware of any credible threats prior to the shooting.
[17]
● On the day of the shooting, surveillance videos showed the shooter entering a bathroom with a backpack and then exiting it about a
minute later without thr backpack but with a semiautomatic handgun.
School Preparation
● Oxford High School used the active shooter drill known as ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate), which uses
proactive strategies to evade a gunman, such as using noise as a distraction and creating distance. The teachers were also
trained to use a barrier at the base of the door called Nightlock, which was installed on every door of the school in 2017.
The Shooting
● After exiting the bathroom, the student started firing "methodically and deliberately" , walked down the hallway and shot into
classrooms and at students who were unable to escape. Due to the quick response by students and staff to the gunshots, the shooter
was unable to enter any of the classrooms.
Police Response
● At 12:51 p.m., police began receiving the first of around one hundred 9-1-1 calls about the shooting and responded to the
school. Within two to three minutes of the arrival of first responders, the shooter was arrested unharmed by a deputy assigned as
a school resource officer and a second deputy who had responded to the scene.
22
SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
Aftermath
● Shooter’s parents were charged on December 3 with involuntary manslaughter for failing to secure the handgun used in the
shooting. After failing to appear for their arraignment, the parents were the subjects of a manhunt by the U.S. Marshals; they were
caught and arrested in Detroit on December 4.
● Lawsuits were filed against the school district, starting on December 9; they allege negligence by school officials towards warning
signs exhibited by the shooter leading up to the shooting.
● On December 9, multiple survivors of the shooting filed two $100 million lawsuits against Oxford Community Schools and its
employees. On January 8, 2022, survivors of the shooting filed an updated $100 million lawsuit that added eleven new counts against
the named school officials. The updated lawsuit included the principal and other administrators, accusing them of "gross negligence"
and alleging that their actions "caused serious and permanent physical and emotional trauma." According to the lawsuit, school
officials were aware of disturbing posts made by the shooter on social media, as well as his tendencies toward animal cruelty, but
they still allowed him to continue attending the school and directed teachers and counselors to discourage reports of behavior.
● On January 19, 2022, the superintendent of Oxford Community Schools issued a statement disputing the accusations made against
the district in the lawsuits. He said that school officials did not discover, or were not informed about ammunition being displayed to
others by the shooter; nor were they aware of his social media presence
● The matter is pending currently.
VULNERABILITIES
● Unable to limit smuggling of guns on campus.
● Limited ability to collect, analyze, and vet intelligence information.
● Uneven enforcement of security policy (eg. locked doors)
● Shooter was able to move throughout the school during the incident.
● Shooter shared his plans with several people prior to the incident. School officials should have been aware and should have acted.
● School was not In contact with parents who were enablers of this tragic incident
SUMMARY OF VULNERABILITIES THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE INCIDENT:
● Shooter access to guns
● Shooter was able to move throughout the school during the incident.
● Shooter shared his plans with several people prior to the incident. School officials should have been aware and should have acted.
● School was not In contact with parents who were enablers of this tragic incident
TGM OVERRIDING VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT - (4) School Administration
Pending lawsuit by the parents which asserts that school authorities should have known of the shooters intentions and should have taken
action to stop it would seem to confirm the school's vulnerability – even if the school prevails on technical legal grounds. The parent’s lawsuit
23
SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
was not dismissed for being frivolous – suggesting the claims true, if not legally valid. Moreover, School officials had grounds to search
shooters residence but did not do so. Local prosecutor advised that Oxford High School officials had legal grounds to search shooter’s
backpack and locker when concerns were raised about his behavior prior to the incident but they never did so, for reasons which were not
made clear.
24
SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
SCHOOL
CASUALTIES
VULNERABILITIES (as assessed by students)
STATUS OF SHOOTER
Robb Elementary, 2021
(Uvalde)
Killed 19; injured 17
PRI – Security; SEC; Intelligence; TER Mental Health
Current student; shot and
killed by police
INCIDENT OVERVIEW
● Robb Elementary School shooting was a mass shooting that occurred on May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas, when an 18-year-old former
student at the school, fatally shot 19 students and two teachers, while 17 others were injured but survived.
Prelude to the Shooting
● Early that day, the shooter and his 66-year-old grandmother had an argument over his failure to graduate from high school at their
home in Uvalde, during which he shot her in the face, before taking her black 2008 Ford F-150.
● The shooter crashed his grandmother's truck through a barricade and into a concrete ditch outside Robb Elementary School at 11:28
a.m. and proceeded to scale a fence and enter the school grounds. According to police, he wore a tactical vest for carrying
ammunition plus a backpack and all-black clothing, while carrying an AR-15 style rifle and seven 30-round magazines. He first fired at
two people at a nearby funeral home, both of whom escaped uninjured.
School Preparation
● The school and school district had extensive security measures in place, including a software service that monitored the social
media accounts of students and other Uvalde-affiliated people to identify threats made against students or staff.
● The district's written security plan noted the use of the Raptor Visitor Management System in schools to scan visitor identity
documents and check them against watch-lists, as well as the use of two-way radios, fence enclosures around campus, school
threat-assessment teams, and a policy of locking the doors of classrooms.
● The school also held joint security training exercises in August 2020 along with the Uvalde Police Department, the Uvalde
County Sheriff's Department, and other local law enforcement agencies.
● In March, 2022, two months before the shooting, the school hosted an active shooter scenario training exercise which covered a
range of topics, such as solo responses to active shooters, first aid and evacuation, and scenarios enacted through role-playing.
The exercise also covered the ability to compare and contrast an active shooter situation versus a barricaded subject or hostage
crisis where an armed person isolates themselves with limited to no ability to harm others.
The Shooting
● The shooter entered the school through a door that did not lock despite being designed to be locked when shut. A report released on
July 6 found that an officer had aimed his rifle at the shooter before he entered the school but did not fire because he was awaiting
his supervisor's permission.
25
SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
● All of the fatalities took place in adjoining classrooms. A survivor of the shooting said that, as teacher Irma Garcia attempted to lock
the door to the classroom, the gunman shot the door's window then backed Garcia into the classroom and said, "Goodnight," as he
shot and killed her. He then opened fire on the rest of the students and another teacher in the room.
● Most of the shooting occurred inside the building within the first few minutes. Multiple students played dead while the shooting
took place, including one student, 11-year-old Miah Cerrillo, who smeared herself with the blood of one of her dead classmates
to give credence to the subterfuge. According to a student who hid in the adjoining classroom, the shooter came in and slightly
crouched down saying, "It's time to die," before opening fire.
● Arnulfo Reyes, a teacher in classroom 111 who received multiple gunshot wounds, recalled he instructed his students to "get
under the table and act like you're asleep." Ramos then arrived and shot him before firing indiscriminately around classroom 111.
Reyes said in past security checks, the classroom 111 door that was meant to be locked during lessons remained unlocked
because "the latch was stuck," and that he had told the principal about this issue.
[73]
Police Response
● Officers arrived three minutes after the shooter entered the school and approached rooms 111 and 112, but they retreated after
shots were fired at them.
● Officers were not successful in establishing negotiations. Police officers waited more than 1 hour and 14 minutes on-site before
breaching the classroom to engage the shooter.
● Shooter was fatally shot by US Border Patrol agents.
● Police also cordoned off the school grounds, resulting in violent conflicts between police and civilians, including parents, who were
attempting to enter the school to rescue their children.
Aftermath
● Law enforcement officials in Uvalde have been heavily criticized for their response to the shooting, and their conduct has been
reviewed in separate investigations by the Texas Ranger Division and the United States Department of Justice.
[16]
Texas
Department of Public Safety (DPS) officials laid much of the responsibility for the police response on Uvalde Consolidated
Independent School District Police Department (UCISD PD).
● In the weeks following the shooting, local lawmakers launched an investigation, held a hearing and released a report into what went
wrong that day. Investigators uncovered the serious security lapses, the slow police response, and the missed warning signs of the
shooter.
● According to a report released by the Texas House of Representatives on July 17, although the official school policy was for
exterior and interior doors to remain locked, staff members would often unlock or open doors due to a lack of keys. Additionally,
some employees were desensitized to the intruder alert system, as it was almost always used for incidents of an undocumented
migrant in the area running from police.
[39]
● On November 29, 2022, families of the victims filed a filed a $27 billion class-action lawsuit against the city, the school district,
multiple law enforcement agencies and individual officers present that day, court documents show. The lawsuit, filed in federal court
in Austin, lists the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District's police department, the Uvalde Police Department, the Texas
26
SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
Department of Public Safety, as well as individual officers from each of these agencies as defendants. Additional lawsuits have been
fired against the gun manufacturer.
● NOTE: The March 2022 – TWO MONTHS BEFORE THE INCIDENT - training materials for the school district police were provided to the
school. Among the material was the following caution: "Time is the number-one enemy during active shooter response. The best
hope that innocent victims have is that officers immediately move into action to isolate, distract, or neutralize the threat, even if that
means one officer acting alone. The materials also put forth the position that a "first responder unwilling to place the lives of the
innocent above their own safety should consider another career field".
SUMMARY OF VULNERABILITIES THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE INCIDENT
● Security officer was not in possession of his gun or his radio.
● Despite policy to the contrary, classroom doors were often left unlocked and propped open.
● Law enforcement responders failed to adhere to their active shooter training, and they failed to prioritize saving the lives of innocent
victims over their own safety.
● There was an unacceptably long period of time before officers breached the classroom, neutralized the attacker, and began rescue
efforts. Shooter shot through classroom door windows.
● Although Robb Elementary had safeguards and active shooter procedures in place, school staff had developed a culture of
complacency around such measures. Out of convenience, some teachers frequently left doors unlocked or propped open — a
violation of school policy. Due to a shortage of keys, substitute teachers were often told to circumvent locks.
● The school was also set up with an intruder alert system. But the frequency of "bailout" alerts, which flag the presence of fleeing
human traffickers in the area, desensitized teachers to their urgency. No prior bailout alert had ever resulted in a violent incident at
the school.
● On the day of the attack, the gunman scaled a 5-foot-tall exterior fence; multiple unlocked doors allowed the gunman to enter the
classrooms unimpeded. Had school personnel locked the doors as the school's policy required, that could have slowed his progress
for a few precious minutes—long enough to receive alerts, hide children, and lock doors; and long enough to give police more
opportunity to engage.
TGM OVERRIDING VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT - (4) SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
While law enforcement vulnerabilities in this matter received most of the media attention, upon close review, the overriding vulnerability lies
with the school district and the administration. Consider:
1. In the weeks following the shooting, local lawmakers launched an investigation, held hearings and released a report into what went
wrong that day. Investigators uncovered serious security lapses, the slow police response, and the missed warning signs of the
shooter. While up-to-date procedures and policies had been provided to the school prior to the incident, the implementation of
these policies was flawed. A report by the Texas legislature concluded: “although the official school policy was for exterior and
interior doors to remain locked, staff members would often unlock or open doors due to a lack of keys. Additionally, some employees
27
SUMMARY: MASS CASUALTY K-12 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, 1999 - 2022
were desensitized to the intruder alert system, as it was almost always used for incidents of an undocumented migrant in the area
running from police. The Report also discussed the “culture of complacency” that limited the effective implementation of the new
security capabilities.
2. Parents filed a class action complaint against all parties associated with the tragedy, including the school district. In its
well-researched complaint, the plaintiffs claim that the school district bears significant responsibility for the tragedy at Uvalde. The
COMPLAINT stated that the school district police department is an agency of the school district. The school district is charged by law
to oversee the operation of the police department, including employment, control, supervision, discipline, training, and practices of
the school police personnel, and its employees, and with the formulation of its policies, practices, and customs. The school district is
legally responsible for the omissions of the school police and the school district police policy practices.
28