The Relentless School Nurse: Another Week of Gun Violence in Schools

This past week in America’s schools was nothing short of harrowing. I’ve been following David Riedman’s K-12 School Shooting Database for years, and each week, his reporting paints a sobering picture of gun violence shattering the places where children should feel safest. But this week was extraordinary—not because gun violence is rare, but because the sheer number of incidents compressed into a matter of days reads like an unrelenting drumbeat of trauma.

Here is what unfolded in just one week:

• In Utah, on what should have been a fun-filled field day, a 9th grader fatally shot himself in front of classmates. The children had just finished a catered picnic at a public park moments before tragedy struck.

• In Georgia, an adult opened fire on random cars as parents waited in the pickup line for dismissal. Police fatally shot him near the entrance doors of the elementary school.

• In California, staff noticed a man with a gun and a knife on campus before classes began. Police confronted and killed him before students arrived.

• In Oklahoma, a student fired a shot at a classmate during a fight at dismissal.

• In Arizona, a gun inside a student’s backpack discharged in the hallway at dismissal.

• In Colorado, an adult man threatened two students with a gun after school. Investigators later found multiple firearms, military-style tactical gear, and ammunition in his home.

• In Minnesota, gunfire erupted outside of a school during a fight between teenagers.

• In Florida, two vehicles exchanged gunfire in the school parking lot while afternoon classes were still underway.

Each bullet fired in these scenarios ripples far beyond the shooter and the immediate victim. The silent victims are classmates, teachers, parents, administrators, nurses, bus drivers, custodians, entire communities—anyone within earshot or locked in fear behind their classroom doors.

Data That Demands Attention

David Riedman has also been sounding the alarm with sobering statistics. Looking at school shooting incidents so far in 2025, the ratio of victims to incidents is .94, which means nearly one victim for every shooting. That ratio is trending upward.

When filtering specifically for “active shooter” events, 2025 shows an average of 3.9 victims per incident. That’s two to three times higher than what was seen in the 2000s, before lockdown drills and school fortification became the norm.

Think about that for a moment. We were told that lockdowns, locked doors, drills, and hardened school perimeters were the answer. Yet the data are pointing in the opposite direction: more victims per incident in our post-fortification era. If the number of victims per school shooting incident is increasing, then the strategies we’ve been relying on are failing. The very approaches designed to protect are not stemming the rising tide of violence.

We Cannot Normalize This

What do we say to the classmates of the 9th grader who ate BBQ at a field day picnic one minute and witnessed his death the next? What do we say to parents in Georgia whose children were nearly caught in a crossfire of bullets during pickup? What about the educators in California who intercepted a would-be armed intruder before the school day began?

We cannot let these events be absorbed into routine. We cannot scroll past the headlines as if they are inevitable. They are not.

Time to Demand Better

As school nurses, educators, parents, and advocates, we must carry forward the urgent truth in David Riedman’s data: school gun violence is escalating, and our current strategies are not working. Prevention must happen before a weapon ever crosses the threshold of a school campus. That means stronger gun safety laws, community-level violence intervention, accessible mental health care, and a collective refusal to accept that every week should read like the recap above.

The lives of students and staff depend on it. Lockdowns and fortifications are not the answer. They are a symptom of our failure to protect children from the public health crisis of gun violence.

To further this crucial conversation, I am sharing Episode 2 of the “Back to School Shootings” Podcast. In this episode, David Riedman and I explore the frontline perspectives of school nurses, the unique challenges we face, and the opportunities to advance prevention. We discuss how meaningful partnerships can help address gun violence in schools. Listen below for practical strategies and evidence-based insights every school leader and advocate should hear.