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School massacres

The term school massacre refers to an incident of mass murder occurring at a school, normally perpetrated by students, although also in some cases by outsiders. Notable school massacres in recent history have included:

• Beslan school massacre (Beslan, Russia) in 2004
• Erfurt massacre (Erfurt, Germany) in 2002
• Osaka school massacre (Ikeda, Osaka prefecture, Japan) in 2001
• Columbine High School massacre (Jefferson County, Colorado, near Littleton, Colorado, United States) in 1999
• Jonesboro massacre (Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States) in 1998
• Sanaa massacre (Sanaa, Yemen) in 1997
• Dunblane massacre (Dunblane, Scotland, United Kingdom) in 1996
• École Polytechnique Massacre (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) in 1989
• Maalot Massacre (Israel) in 1974, by DFLP gunmen (see )

Other primary and elementary school killings

• June 11, 1964: A 42-year-old World War II veteran enters a primary school in Cologne-Volkhoven with a flame thrower and a lance. Eight children and two teachers die from his assault, 21 children are injured, most of them have severe and lasting burns.
• January 1979, San Diego, California: 17-year-old Brenda Spencer took a rifle that she got for Christmas and headed to Cleveland Elementary School, which was across the street from her house. She fired rampantly, aiming to kill, as evidenced by the fact that the bullet wound in one injured child was mere inches from his heart. Eight children and a police officer were injured, and two men protecting the children died. When the six-hour incident ended, she shrugged, "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day." She also noted that "There was no reason for it, and it was just a lot of fun"; "It was just like shooting ducks in a pond"; and "[The children] looked like a herd of cows standing around, it was really easy pickings." Soon after, the Dublin punk band Boomtown Rats wrote the song "I Don't Like Mondays," which was based on the incident.
• January 17, 1989, Stockton, California: 25-year-old Patrick Purdy fires an AK-47 at random at Cleveland Elementary School, killing five children (aged between 6 and 9) and wounding 29 others and one teacher, before taking his own life. The incident inspires a rash of legislation restricting the purchase of assault weapons.
• The Taber killing (Alberta, Canada) in 1999.
• February 29, 2000, Mount Morris Township, Michigan: A 6-year-old boy shoots 6-year-old Kayla Rowland in the neck; Rowland dies, and the 6-year-old boy's father is charged for the crime
• June 1, 2004, Sasebo, Japan: A 11-year-old 6th-grade girl slashes her classmate Satomi Mitarai at Okubo Elementary School in the town of Sasebo, in Nagasaki prefecture. Satomi Mitarai dies.

Other secondary school killings

• March 2, 1987, Missouri: 12-year-old honor student Nathan Ferris brought a gun to school. He killed a student who teased him before he killed himself.
• May 1, 1992, Olivehurst, California: 20-year-old Eric Houston killed four people and wounded 10 in an armed siege at his former high school. He shot up the school in retribution for failing a grade. He was given the death penalty for the shooting.
• January 18, 1993, Grayson, Kentucky: 17-year-old Scott Pennington shot his English teacher in the head and a school janitor in the abdomen.
• November 15, 1995, Giles County, Tennessee: 17-year-old Jamie Rouse walks into the Richland School dressed in black and with a Remington Viper. He shoots two teachers in the head, killing one of them. He then attempted to kill the football coach, but a female student in the way was hit in the neck instead.
• February 2, 1996, Moses Lake, Washington: 14-year-old student Barry Loukaitis, dressed up as a wild west gunslinger, turned a hunting rifle on his algebra class at Frontier Junior High School, killing two classmates, Manuel Vela and Arnie Fritz, and a teacher, Leona Caires.
• February 2, 1996, Atlanta, Georgia: 12-year-old David Dubose kills a teacher in the hallway of his school.
• January 27, 1997: 13-year-old Tronneal Magnum shoots and kills another student in front of his school.
• February 19, 1997, Bethel, Alaska: 16-year-old student Evan Ramsey opened fire with a shotgun at Bethel High School, killing the school principal and one student, and wounding two others.
• October 1, 1997, Pearl, Mississippi: 16-year-old Luke Woodham stabbed his mother, then took a rifle to Pearl High School where he opened fire, shooting nine students. Woodham's ex-girlfriend, Christina Menefee, and Menefee's friend, Lydia Kay Dew, died. Six other boys were later accused of conspiracy.
• December 1, 1997, West Paducah, Kentucky: 14-year-old Michael Carneal carried five fully-loaded guns to Heath High School, shot at a prayer group, killing three (Jessica James, Nichole Hadley, and Kayce Steger) and wounding another five teenagers. Five of the victims were shot in the head, and three were hit in the upper torso. One of the wounded girls was paralyzed for life.
• April 24, 1998, Edinboro, Pennsylvania: 14-year-old Andrew J. Wurst went to the school graduation dance where he shot and killed a popular science teacher. He subsequently opened fire on more students, wounding another teacher and two classmates before he ran out of ammunition.
• May 19, 1998, Fayetteville, Tennessee: three days before graduation, 18-year-old honor student Jacob Davis allegedly confronted, then shot and killed 18-year-old Nick Greson the parking lot of his school. Greson was dating Davis' ex-girlfriend. Davis allegedly then put the gun down and put Greson's head in his hands.
• May 21, 1998, Springfield, Oregon: Two boys, Ben Walker and Mikael Nickolauson, were killed and more than 20 other students were injured when 15-year-old Kip Kinkel opened fire in the school cafeteria of Thurston High School. Two bodies, believed to be (and later confirmed as) the youth's parents, were later discovered at the boy's home.
• October 20, 1999, Houston, Texas: A 14-year-old boy stabs a 13-year-old boy named Samuel Avila in the head with a screwdriver by Estanislao Balderas in a fight at Deady Middle School. Samuel Avila dies.
• November 20, 1999, Deming, New Mexico: A boy shot 13-year-old Aralecy Tena in the back of the head in the lobby of Deming Middle School. Tena dies after being taken off of life support.
• March 2000, Brannenburg, Bavaria, Germany: A 16-year-old student at a private boarding school shoots a 57-year old teacher dead, before shooting himself. He had failed a cannabis test.
• March 5, 2001, Santee, California: 15-year-old Charles Andrew Williams opens fire in a boy's bathroom at Santana High School, killing two students (Randy Gordon and Bryan Zuckor) and wounding thirteen.
• March 30, 2004, Gary, Indiana: Neal Boyd IV is shot in the parking lot of Wallace High School.
• February 2, 2004, Washington, D.C.: At about 10:30 a.m. EST, a teenager(?) opens fire at Ballou High School, killing one 16-year-old boy and wounding an 18-year-old.
• March 30, 2004, Miami, Florida: At about 8:45 a.m. EST, a 14-year-old 8th-grade student named Jaime Rodrigo Gough was found stabbed and severely injured in a boy's restroom at Southwood Middle School. The boy died.

Attempted murder

• 8 July 1996, Blakenhall, Wolverhampton, England: Horrett Campbell, a 33-year-old man with paranoid schizophrenia, invaded a teddy bears' picnic being held St Luke's Primary School and slashed three young children and four adults with a machete. Lisa Potts, a 20-year-old nursery nurse, was awarded the George Medal for her actions, saving children's lives despite suffering severe injuries.