Some examples that have been on these lists in the past:
- A school resource officers firearm that accidentally went off when a child hugged around his waist. No injuries (there are other questions, but doesn't qualify in the same way)
- An empty .22 casing found in a random school parking lot, probably fell out of a car or got caught in a boot or similar.
- A gang fight at 1am on a Saturday near to school property.
- My personal favorite: The two schools closest to me that showed up on one of the lists (Everytown, I believe?) because the police were dealing with an active robbery situation about 1/2 mi away and they asked the schools to go into lockdown. Apparently "lockdown" immediately and only ever means schools shooting.
- 2/3rd of school shootings that NPR couldn't verify happened.[1] [1] https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/08/27/640323347/the-sch...
While I get your point, I think when you have to be concerned about how 'school shooting' is defined your country has a big problem.
The mass violence shootings that you hear about on TV where anyone and everyone might be a victim are the exception, not the norm.
Yes, I want to know these things happen.
No, they are not such an emergency that my kid needs to be taking time from class to text me about it.
Most schools in areas with lots of crime or gang activity have metal detectors and other security at the doors. Violence is happening off hours, or between gang members either off campus (but close enough to warrant bringing people inside) or at the edges.
In a country with hundreds of millions of people, a thousand over four years is not exactly a rounding error given that it is concentrated in a few areas, but still close enough that the vast majority will never experience it in their lives.
that’s about 1,200 more than parents worry about anything else