In a list of 15 “school shootings” in 2019, CNN included incidents that involved a pellet gun, an accidental discharge, a shooting after hours involving someone who was not a student, and a man killed in a university parking lot.
From Georgia to California, at elementary, middle and high schools and on college and university campuses. We’re 19 weeks into 2019, there have already been 15 school shootings in the US in which someone was hurt or killed. https://t.co/tJSwYYnKBi
— CNN (@CNN) May 9, 2019
CNN said that because “there is no single definition for what qualifies as a school shooting” it would set its own parameters:
- The shooting must involve at least one person being shot (not including the shooter).
- The shooting must occur on school property, which includes but is not limited to, buildings, athletic fields, parking lots, stadiums, and buses.
- We included accidental discharge of a firearm as long as the first two parameters are met, except in instances where the sole shooter is law enforcement or a security officer.
- We included injuries sustained from BB guns, since the Consumer Product Safety Commission has identified them as potentially lethal.
Because of these guidelines, the following incidents were included in the 15 total that were listed:
- A man, who was not a student, was shot after confronting a person who was attempting to steal his car after school hours outside Miller Grove High School.
- A Manassas High School ROTC cadet aged 14 was sent to the hospital after being accidentally shot with a pellet gun.
- A gun accidentally discharged in a Grambling State University dorm injuring one student.
- While riding the bus home, a 10-year-old student from Holmes County Elementary School was shot in what police have described as a drive-by shooting.
- A man of 21 was shot dead at just before 2 a.m. in a parking lot owned by the University of Oregon. CNN stated he was shot “outside a fraternity house.” This would not have qualified the incident as a school shooting under CNN rules, but the ownership of the parking lot did.
If the definition of a school shooting is that of a student or member of staff at a high school or below being either the victim or perpetrator of a shooting by a gun on school grounds, there have been eight school shootings in 2019. If the definition is extended to include colleges, then there have been 10.
