SCHOOL-RELATED DEATHS, SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, & SCHOOL VIOLENCE INCIDENTS

2003-2004 School Year Incidents
Identified by National School Safety and Security Services, Inc.*
Cleveland, Ohio

Note: This page and the work represented herein is copy-protected and reflects the proprietary in-house research conducted by National School Safety and Security Services.  It may not be reproduced or otherwise used in any form without the advanced written permission of Kenneth S. Trump, President of National School Safety and Security Services.

* School-related deaths, school shootings, and school crisis incidents have been identified through print and electronic news sources, professional contacts, and other nationwide sources, by Kenneth S. Trump, President, National School Safety and Security Services, Inc. (Cleveland, Ohio). This is not presented as an exhaustive list or as a scientific study.  Additional incidents may be added pending review of additional items on file and new information received during the course of the school year.

For purposes of this listing, the 2003-2004 school year is considered to be from August 1, 2003, through July 31, 2004. In addition to school-related violent deaths, this page provides a sample of school shootings that did not result in death and a sample of other incidents of school-related crime, violence, and crisis situations.

For purposes of this monitoring report, school-related violent deaths are homicides, suicides, or other violent, non-accidental deaths in the United States in which a fatal injury occurs:
1)  inside a school, on school property, on or immediately around (and associated with) a school bus, or in the immediate area (and associated with) a K-12 elementary or secondary public, private, or parochial school;

2) on the way to or from a school for a school session;

3) while attending, or on the way to or from, a school-sponsored event;

4)  as a clear result of school-related incidents/conflicts, functions, activities, regardless of whether on or off actual school property;

Identified School-Related Violent Deaths:  2003-2004 School Year

Total Deaths:  49

Breakdown by Type:

• Shooting:  23
• Suicides:  5
• Murder-Suicide: 6
• Fight-Related: 4
• Stabbing: 10
• Other: 1

August 14, 2003:  Columbus, GA
A 14-year-old female high school student, visiting her former teachers at a middle school, is shot and killed by a 13-year-old male in a wooded area behind the middle school School. Several youths went into the woods to see a fight between two boys, according to police, when one pulled out a gun and the observers fled and the female was shot.

August 19, 2003:  Meraux, LA
A 39-year-old male was arrested after a man holding his 2-year-old son was shot to death and the child seriously wounded near a crowded school bus stop.  The suspect reportedly grabbed a shotgun out of his car and started firing, according to police. Another man, who had taken his son to get on a bus, was wounded in the leg.

August 28, 2003:  Coralville, IA
A 24-year-old man was shot and killed by police following a police chase onto an elementary school property. Students were still on playground at the time of the incident and three schools were subsequently called into a lockdown.

August 29, 2003:  Georgetown, SC
A 22-year-old male was shot to death after an argument following a football game at Georgetown High School. Police say the fight started at the game, but that the victim was killed in a nearby shopping center parking lot.

September 4, 2003:  Brighton, CO
A 15-year-old male was killed and his 16-year-old brother was injured in a shooting during school hours near Adams City High School, triggering the lockdown of schools in the area.

September 5, 2003:  San Diego, CA
A 14-year-old boy jogging with his high school cross-country team is shot and killed in an ambush by his father, who then killed himself after a standoff with police.

September 5, 2003:  Tucson, AZ
A 16-year-old boy died after a fistfight at Pueblo High Magnet School. The boy had a heart condition that contributed to his death, according to police.

September 10, 2003:  Vicksburg, MS
A 20-year-old male high school junior was charged with murder for allegedly shooting a 20-year-old non-student once in the chest while on access road near the school’s football field around 2:30pm while school was still in session.

September 10,  2003:  Chicago, IL
A 16-year-old male was charged with killing a 16-year-old male Proviso East High School student. The victim was shot in the chest after leaving the school, which had been dismissed early for a staff development day.

September 10, 2003:  Fort Worth, TX
A 16-year-old boy allegedly fatally shot a classmate, then dumped his body in a nearby construction site.

September 11, 2003:  Tucson, AZ
A 17-year-old student at Tucson High Magnet School was shot and killed off campus near an underpass after school. A 15-year-old was also shot and treated. Police said the shooting may be gang-related.

September 12, 2003:  Green Cove Springs, FL
A 15-year-old male high school student was hit by a single sucker-punch to the head shortly after the final school bell rang and subsequently died on September 19, 2003.  A 17-year-old male student was charged as an adult for manslaughter.

September 16, 2003:  Hopkinsville, KY
A 16-year-old girl fatally shot another teen and then killed herself as the two sat in a car parked at a shopping center across from their school.

September 24, 2003:  Cold Spring, MN
A 15-year-old allegedly shot two students at Rocori High School. One student died the day of the shooting and the second shot student died in the hospital on October 10, 2003.

September 30, 2003:  Sacramento, CA
A 15-year-old boy was shot to death after an argument near C.K. McClatchy High School as dozens of students watched the attack. Witnesses said the victim was standing near a sandwich shop a block from the school when he began arguing with another teenage boy who was exchanging insults with the girlfriend of the victim’s best friend. A school resource officer ran to the victim and initiated CPR, but he was pronounced dead at UC Davis Medical Center.

October 1, 2003:  Ft. Worth, TX
A 17-year-old former high school student was fatally stabbed and five others were injured after seven teens fought in a vacant lot near Bowie High School, police say.

October 16, 2003: Roanoke, VA
A 55-year-old male middle school teacher accused of assaulting a student leapt to his death from a bridge, one day after he was exonerated but had never been informed that charges were cleared.  The incident had been reported by school officials to child services officials, but not to police, until a school resource officer overheard discussion of the incident and pursued the matter. (Note: This incident is counted as a school-associated death as it has a clear nexus to a school incident as per criteria #4 above.)

October 23, 2003:  Landover, MD
A man’s body was found in the parking lot of an elementary school by a school maintenance worker at 6:00am. The victim had been shot multiple times.  The elementary school was closed for the day and students were bused to a nearby high school to attend classes while police officials processed the crime scene.

October 30, 2003: Washington, DC
A 16-year-old, 11th-grade male student was shot and killed outside of the high school. The victim was shot by stray bullet from a 15-year-old male who reportedly was attempting to shoot at a vehicle containing members of a rival gang.  A 15-year-old female was also shot in the wrist by a stray bullet.

November 4, 2003: Bexar County, TX
A 17-year-old male high school student was charged with murder for allegedly fatally shooting another 17-year-old male high school student during a street brawl that stemmed from a dispute that had started at Judson High School, according to reports.  Police said that around 3:45pm, a group of 8 to 12 males rode their bikes after school to the home of the suspect and then ganged up on him near his home.  As the group fought, a resident came out of his home and fired two rounds in the air from a rifle in order to frighten the fighters.  The resident put down the gun and the group went to beat up the resident, during which time the suspect reportedly picked up the rifle and fired a shot, hitting the victim in the stomach.

November 6, 2003: San Francisco, CA
A 15-year-old male high school student on the way to an after-school job was shot and killed two blocks from the school on a city bus by a 16-year-old male.  The victim was reportedly an innocent bystander.  The suspect allegedly fired at someone else during a fight between students from two separate high schools on the bus but the bullet struck the victim in the face. School officials from both schools subsequently canceled weekend football games in fear of retaliation.

November 8, 2003: Sugar Land, TX
A 17-year-old female high school student, an innocent bystander, was shot and killed as a fight broke out at the side of a stadium at a high school football game. A 21-year-old male was subsequently arrested and charged.

November 10, 2003: Buffalo, NY
A teenage male was shot and killed in the back parking lot of Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School around 4:00pm.  All students were gone but a teacher still working inside heard at least three shots, looked outside, and observed the victim laying in the lot next to his car.

December 2, 2003: Chicago, IL
A Chicago police officer shot and killed an 18-year-old male after the suspect refused to put down his revolver after being stopped on the playground of Fermi elementary school at 9:40pm.  Police reportedly found five bags of crack cocaine, one bag of suspected marijuana, and $260 in the suspect’s pocket.  Police were said to be on alert in the area because of several recent shooting incidents.

December 8, 2003: Porter, OK
A 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death on a school bus by a fellow student, who was arrested after jumping out the rear door of the bus and running away, according to police.

December 9, 2003:  Bellevue, WA
An 18-year-old high school senior, reportedly distraught over a breakup with his girlfriend, drove his vehicle at high speed into a highway median after threatening suicide. The male had reportedly dropped his sister off at school and instead of gong to class, left campus, communicated from home with his parents by phone, and then left the house where he was later found in the vehicle. The male had reportedly called his (ex)-girlfriend on the cell phone and asked her if she would get back together with him. When she reportedly said no, he said if she wouldn’t change her mind, he was going to drive on the freeway and kill himself.  She immediately told her teacher. The teacher told the school counselor, who then told his father. The father was reportedly at school making a report to the school resource officer at the time the suicide was discovered by state patrol officers.

January 13, 2004:  Dallas, TX
A 14-year-old 7th grader was stabbed three times outside of a Dallas middle school and later died at a hospital.  The suspect is reportedly older and not believed to be a student.

January 15, 2004:  Elizabeth, NJ
A 15-year-old male high school student was stabbed to death by two males while walking home from school.  Initial reports indicate that the incident occurred after a snowball fight.  Family members subsequently said they suspected a gang initiation may have been involved.

January 20, 2004: El Paso, TX
A 17-year-old male high school student was arrested for stabbing to death a 19-year-old male who had graduated from the school in 2002. The incident, which occurred after school about a half-block north of the Irvin High School campus, was believed to be a continuation of a weekend altercation, possibly over a girl.  The suspect reportedly used a knife which he had carried in his backpack during the school day.

January 21, 2004: Henderson, NV
Police shot and killed a 40-year-old male gunman outside an elementary school after he allegedly shot a hostage in a car and walked through the campus searching for his ex-girlfriend. School administrators said 27 children were in an after-school program for kindergarten through 5th graders when the gunman at the time of the incident around 4:50pm.  Police said the gunman went through the campus but did not find his ex-girlfriend, who reportedly had been at the school picking up a child.

January 27, 2004: San Jose, CA
A 15-year-old male high school student was stabbed and killed on the way to his high school.  A 20-year-old male was subsequently arrested for the murder.  Police said the incident was gang-related.

February 2, 2004: Elmira, NY
A custodian discovered an 18-year-old male high school student’s dead body in the school’s rear parking lot near the building housing the school’s pool.  Authorities ruled the death a suicide as a result of asphyxiation by hanging. School officials mobilized counselors for students the next day.

February 2, 2004:  Washington, DC
A 17-year-old male high school student died after being shot several times in the chest around 10:30am near the school’s cafeteria. An 18-year-old student was also grazed in the leg by a bullet. All individuals involved were believed to be students according to initial reports.

February 3, 2004: Palmetto Bay, FL
A 14-year-old male Miami-Dade middle school student was found dead in a second-floor restroom around 8:30am. He was cut with a sharp object and bled to death, according to reports. Police found the weapon and have a 14-year-old fellow student suspect was charged.

February 6, 2004: Kansas City, MO
A 19-year-old male was fatally stabbed during a fight in a high school parking lot around 9:30pm.

February 11, 2004: Philadelphia, PA
A 10-year-old male elementary school student was shot in the face and died after five days in the hospital as one group of men in a car and another group on foot exchanged  gunfire outside a Philadelphia elementary school around 8:30am.  A 56-year-old female school crossing guard was also shot in the foot.  Police said the guard acted heroically to scurry children across the street as bullets were flying and children were on the playground.

February 20, 2004:  St. Martinville, LA
A 41-year-old part-time city police officer, who was also a school custodian at a city junior high school, allegedly called his 19-year-old girlfriend outside of her father’s church and school where she worked, and then shot her to death around 11:15am.  The victim was reportedly shot several times, just feet from the school full of children, who stood in a doorway crying and holding on to each other.

March 10, 2004:  Atlantic City, NJ
A 52-year-old police sergeant died of a heart attack shortly after intervening in a riot following a rival high school basketball game.  The officer, a 27-year-veteran of the police department, had helped arrest one person after several fights broke out following a boy’s basketball semifinal championship game.  The officer left the scene after assisting with the arrest a fell victim to the heart attack, with his car hitting a pole, as he was driving back to police headquarters to file reports on the incident.

March 17, 2004:  Joyce, WA
A 13-year-old male student shot and killed himself in a school classroom where about 20 other students were present.  The male reportedly brought a .22-caliber rifle hidden in a guitar case and pulled it out without notice or threat to others, shooting himself in the chest at around 10:00am. The student had been in the back corner of the classroom for about two hours before the incident, according to the superintendent.

March 29, 2004:  Pharr, TX
A 15-year-old female high school student was stabbed to death outside the Fine Arts building at PSJA High School around 7:30pm.  Doctors reportedly told the family she had been stabbed 12 times. Police took a 16-year-old male into custody. Family members indicated that a school custodian allegedly witnessed the attack. Police indicated that the students were returning from a University Interscholastic League competition that both of them had been participating in when they arrived at the school by bus and unloaded in the parking lot to wait for parents and family to pick them up.

April 23, 2004: Tampa, FL
A 54-year-old female custodian was found dead at her new job at a middle school.  She was found in a classroom by another custodian around 7:35pm that evening.  She was alive but efforts to revive her were unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said the victim suffered upper body injuries and that she was not shot, but they were still attempting to identify the weapon/method used in the attack. A 36-year-old male registered sex offender was later arrested and charged.

April 27, 2004: Philadelphia, PA
An 18-year-old male student reportedly hanged himself in a high school auditorium.  His body was found on a stage by a group of 9th-grade students.

April 30, 2004: Boston, MA
A 19-year-old male non-student stabbed a 17-year-old female high school student in the back outside of her high school around 7:30am. The male then stabbed himself while the police were pursuing him. He died the following day (May 1st) from the stabbing injuries.  The incident forced the school to postpone its junior prom the evening of April 30th.

May 24, 2004: Salt Lake City, UT
A 39-year-old female high school cafeteria worker was shot in the chest and head as she walked out of the faculty parking lot at the school around 6:00am.  The suspect, her 52-year-old estranged husband, reportedly then shot and killed himself with one shot to the head.  The suspect reportedly had walked up to the victim after she got out of her vehicle in the faculty parking lot and a struggle ensued  after the male pulled out the gun. Both bodies were found on a grassy area in front of the school’s faculty parking lot.  Police cordoned off the area as students arrived and held up sheets to block their view before the bodies were removed by the medical examiner’s office. Police later said the couple was in the process of a divorce. Counselors were made available at the school, which is located near downtown Salt Lake City.

June 25, 2004: Omaha, NE
A 16-year-old female high school student, who had left the school building to go to lunch during summer school, died after  reportedly being jumped and beaten by a group of females in the parking lot after leaving a Burger King.  Reports indicate that the victim was a sophomore special-needs student who was also a severe asthmatic.  The victim’s 16-year-old friend, who was with her at the time, reportedly received a broken nose and several bruises. The deceased victim had reportedly been the victim of bullying and harassment during the school year, and reports indicate that the school had taken action upon the report of such activity. News accounts indicate that students were not authorized to leave the summer school campus for lunch, but it would be easy to do so due to the number of students coming and going during that time.

———————————————————–

Sample of Reported
School-Related Shootings Not Resulting in Deaths

A sample of school-related shootings occurring nationwide in the 2003-2004 school year not resulting in death is listed below.  It should be noted that this is only a sample and and is not intended to include all of the many incidents involving firearms confiscated but not used, and other weapons possession or use that occur in U.S. schools.  List includes individuals shot but not killed and firearms discharged in schools, on school campuses and buses, at school-sponsored events, to and from school involving students, and as a clear result of school-related incidents/conflicts.

Total non-death shooting incidents listed to date:  68

August 29, 2003:  San Bernardino, CA
An early-morning shooting near San Bernardino High startled students playing on the football field. According to police, one person in the neighborhood was shot.

September 4, 2003:  Chicago, IL
A 15-year-old boy was shot and wounded by a stray bullet near George Washington High School. Police said the boy was an innocent bystander in an apparently gang-related shooting.

September 9, 2003:  Los Angeles, CA
Three teenage students were critically wounded outside Taft High School in Woodland Hills when men in a car shouted a gang challenge and fire into a crowd of students headed home from school. According to police, the victims were the unintended targets of an apparent gang attack.

September 9, 2002:  Pittsburgh, PA
Gunfire erupted in the parking lot of a mini-mart across the street from Peabody High School at dismissal time.  One teen was shot in the leg following a reported argument over a gold chain necklace.

September 11, 2003:  Jackson, MS
An argument between two elementary school girls ended after one child’s mother shot the other near a school bus stop. The 35-yearold victim suffered a gunshot wound to the chest.

September 15, 2003:  Honolulu, HI
A 27-year-old burglary suspect wanted on a warrant was shot by police after pulling a fake handgun out of a fanny pack as police approached following a minor accident where the suspect pulled into a loading area outside of St. Patrick School. School officials immediately went into a lockdown and no students were injured.

September 15, 2003:  Cypress Hills, NY
Three students, two age 17 and the other age 16, were shot a half-block from their Brooklyn/Queens high school after dismissal in a possible gang-related attack.

September 16, 2003:   Los Angeles, CA
A teenage male student was wounded while waiting for a bus outside Duke Ellington Continuation High School.  A gunman had stepped into the intersection and fired multiple shots at a passing SUV.

September 17, 2003:  New Orleans, LA
A 15-year-old high school student was shot in the leg and approximately 60 of his friends sought refuge with him in a nearby bar following an altercation between students from two high schools.  Police were seeking a suspect believed to be a student at one of the schools.

September 17, 2002:  Boston, MA
A 15-year-old was shot in the leg and a school police officer was injured from a flying bullet fragment after a man opened fire at dismissal outside of Charlestown High School.  Police were investigating the incident as possible gang-related, although the victims were innocent bystanders.

September 17, 2003:  Eldersburg, MD
A 13-year-old 8th-grade male student middle school student fired a single shot from a .44 caliber gun belonging to his father in an empty school bathroom in an apparent suicide attempt between classes.

September 22, 2003:  Spokane, WA
A 17-year-old male student with a gun barricaded himself in a third-floor classroom at Lewis and Clark High School.  Police SWAT team members eventually had to shoot him to bring an end to the situation.  No students were injured.

September 25, 2003:  Lawndale, NC
A male student allegedly fired two shots inside Burns Middle School as students arrived for class. No one was injured.

September 30, 2003:  Cincinnati, OH
Police questioned three people in connection with a shooting that reportedly took place right across the street from a local elementary school moments before students were let out for the day.

October 1, 2003:  Sacramento, CA
A 19-year-old male high school student, despondent over a breakup with is girlfriend and armed with a shotgun, was shot by police after a vice principal wrestled with him for the gun and the suspect pointed a 12-gauge shotgun at police. The administrator, a former police officer, was credited by police for averting a deadly incident.

October 6, 2003:  Detroit, MI
A 17-year-old male student was reportedly shot in the leg while riding on a school bus to his regional vocational training center school.  The shooting appeared to be accidental.  The victim was treated and released at the hospital.

October 7, 2003:  Akron, OH

———————————————————-

Sample of Other Reported Higher-Profile
School Crime, Violence, and Crisis Incidents in 2003-2004

Total incident listing to date: 210

August 5, 2003:  Otay Mesa, CA
A 13-year-old 8th grade middle school student was stabbed in science class by a fellow student after they engaged in horseplay.  The victim suffered a stab wound in one leg that punctured the femoral artery, according to police.

August 15, 2003:  Dacula, GA
A 16-year-old male high school student stabbed a 15-year-old in the abdomen after a fight.

August 20, 2003:  Oakdale, CA
Three juvenile high school students were stabbed during a fight in a high school parking lot.

August 27, 2003:  New Orleans, LA
Two men carrying assault rifles robbed a credit union, stopped their getaway briefly to exchange gunfire with police, and then surrendered after crashing into Frederick Douglass Senior High School, according to police.

August 28, 2003:  Houston, TX
About a dozen police were on campus following fights reportedly due to tensions between Hispanic and black students.

September 1, 2002:  Woonsocket, RI
Two teenage males, ages 15 and 15, were charged with making threats to commit a “Columbine-style” killing spree at Woonsocket High School. Police said they told a friend during an Internet chat that they were going to get guns and shoot everybody at school.

September 3, 2003:  Glen Burnie, MD
A former Glen Burnie High student was arrested after allegedly stabbing a 13-year-old student on high school grounds, according to police.  The Anne Arundel County School District victim was stabbed once in the lower abdomen.

September 3, 2003:  Chicago, IL
A teenage who dropped a loaded handgun while being chased by police briefly sought refuge inside a West Side elementary school.  No students were injured.

September 9, 2003:  Durham, NC
Police charge 24 people in a gang-related brawl outside a high school. The 24 suspects were described by police as a mixture of the high school’s students and outsiders that came onto the campus.

September 10-11, 2003:  Manchester, CT
Seven high school students were arrested during two related fighting incidents on consecutive days. On Sept. 10, four students were arrested after a fight in the cafeteria in which a staff member’s nose is broken. On Sept. 11, three students were arrested after a disturbance in the school parking lot, during which a teenage girl kicked a police officer.

September 15, 2003:  Omaha, NE
An elementary school teacher was robbed and carjacked at gunpoint in her school’s parking lot while taking supplies from the trunk of her car around 8:00am.

September 15, 2003:  Pascagoula, MS
Police arrested a 35-year-old mother in front of an elementary school for allegedly attacking another mother, age 24, with a meat cleaver. The two mothers were believed to have been fighting over something to do with their children.

September 15-29, 2003:  New York, NY
On September 29th, a 15-year-old male student was stabbed in the back with a knife at 9:45am by an intruder while outside of the cafeteria at Murrow school. The victim required three stitches.  Just 15 minutes after this incident, at another school, Bowne in Flushing, a 17 year old allegedly stabbed another student in the neck and on the left ear during a fight over a girl. On Sept. 17, two boys were slashed outside Brandeis High School on the upper West Side. The same day, a student was hurt in a cafeteria box-cutter attack at Forest Hills High School in Queens. On Sept. 15, a man opened fire on a group of brawling boys near Franklin K. Lane High School in Queens, wounding three teens.

September 16, 2003:  Erie, PA
An 11-year-old 6th grade male was suspended after showing a fake grenade and threatening to blow up his school bus.

September 18, 2003:  Helena, MT
A 17-year-old male high school student was charged for bringing a loaded .25 caliber handgun to school with the intent to “harm or kill” another student.

September 23, 2003:  Davis, CA
An elementary school and a middle school were evacuated after two male students, ages 11 and 13, allegedly brought pipe bombs to the schools.

September 25, 2003:  Boston, MA
A 12-year-old 6th grader was arrested and charged for stabbing a 12-year-old 7th grade male in the chest during a fight while on a bus full of students arriving at their middle school around 7:20am.

September 30, 2003:  Mount Vernon, NY
A 16-year-old male student was threatened by another teen with a handgun.  In an unrelated incident, an 18-year-old student was threatened by another teen with a gun in the school parking lot.

September 30, 2003:  Westfield, IN
A 15-year-old high school student was suspended pending an expulsion hearing for possessing a hit list with the names of 60 individuals, including the principal.

September 30, 2003: Wickenburg, AZ
A 16-year-old male was taken into custody and subsequently charged for plotting a massacre at a high school, narrowly avoiding a tragedy according to officials.  The student was arrested after police got a tip from a resident who logged onto an Internet chat room the boy frequented.  The boy reportedly did not attend the school where the plot was to occur.  Authorities said the arrest was based upon information from notebooks, numerous weapons, and other evidence seized from the youth.

October 1, 2003:  Lovejoy, GA
A 14-year-old  male high school student was charged for plotting a Columbine-like killing.  The male allegedly had detailed plans to block the fire exits and then pull the alarm and shoot people as they tried to leave. Students told authorities that the boy was trying to recruit them and had diagrams and notes. No weapons were found at the school, but police reported that the student had access to his father’s handgun. Police seized the boy’s notebook, which contained his plans for the killings, including a photocopy of the school’s fire evacuation plan.

October 1, 2003:  Farmington Hills, MI
Three teenage males, two age 18 and one age 19, climbed onto the roof of an elementary school armed with a high-powered rifle and drunk, according to police.  The suspects reportedly planned to target cars going by in the area, police said.

October 3, 2003:  Charlotte, NC
Four high school students were arrested and two police officers were injured during a fight that broke out during a homecoming pep rally, according to police. The fight started on a school field and moved across campus to the bus parking lot.

October 3, 2003:  Idaho Fallls, ID
Students at two high schools reportedly were involved in numerous fights. A student required stitches after one fight and in another that was not on school grounds, someone fired a rifle into the air, according to police.

October 3, 2003:  Tampa, FL
A 14-year-old being pursued by police on felony warrants ran through an elementary school, causing school officials to go into “lockdown” for 45 minutes.

October 8, 2003:  Des Moines, IA
Police report that parents of nine high schools were advised of a suspected suicide pact involving their children a week after a 15-year-old classmate hanged himself. Five girls and four boys, many freshmen and sophomores, were reportedly involved.  The 15-year-old hanged himself the week prior following a car crash that killed three of his friends on September 23rd.

October 10, 2003:  New Orleans, LA
One adult and eight juvenile high school students were arrested for allegedly beating five other students in the parking lot at John F. Kennedy High School in connection with neighborhood rivalry altercations. The fight reportedly started inside the school and end in the parking lot where school security officials intervened and call police shortly before 3:00p.m.  A 15-year-old male was knocked unconscious, an 18-year-old had a knot on his head and swollen mouth, and three others complained of minor pain, according to police.

October 10, 2003:  Los Angeles, CA
A San Fernando Middle School sixth-grade teacher was beaten and robbed at gunpoint in her classroom around 4:30p.m. when a male stranger approached her and struck her on the head and face with a gun.  The male then stole her purse and fled.

October 14, 2003:  Cocoa, FL
Nearly a dozen Cocoa High School students were injured, four arrested and two subdued by stun guns after a brawl broke out during the school’s fifth bomb threat in eight days.

October 14, 2003: Arlington, TX
A 16-year-old male high school student was arrested for allegedly stabbing a 14-year-old male student in the school’s gym locker room.  The attack reportedly stemmed from a conflict about the theft of the victim’s cell phone a week earlier.

October 15, 2003: New Orleans, LA
A 15-year-old female high school student was arrested for allegedly slashing a fellow female student on the buttocks with a box cutter while on her way to homeroom around 8:30am.

October 16, 2003:  New Carrolton, MD
A 14-year-old Charles Carroll Middle School student suffered a punctured lung after being stabbed during what police believe was a gang-related fight.  A 13-year-old suspect was arrested.

October 17, 2003: Richmond, VA
A 15-year-old male high school student was arrested for allegedly assaulting a 32-year-veteran female physics and biology teacher.  The teacher was hospitalized after she reportedly was knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked and hit in her face and body. The teacher took a classroom telephone away from the student after he allegedly ignored three directives to end a telephone conversation.

October 22, 2003:  Hopkinton, MA
A freshman female high school student reportedly confessed to school officials that she scrawled a hit list in a high school’s girls’ restroom.  The hit list reportedly threatened 10 students and a teacher and included racial slurs.

October 22, 2003: Howard, MD
Five male high school students were arrested for reportedly being involved in a plot to buy a handgun after the unloaded weapon was found inside a locker on campus.

October 22, 2003: Nehawka, NE
A middle school was locked down after a woman ran into the school claiming that her husband was chasing her and that he was armed with a gun. Sheriff’s deputies arrested an adult male with a loaded firearm in his vehicle for carrying a concealed weapon and making terroristic threats.  The male was found sitting in a truck parked outside the school by the school principal who went outside to investigate and got the male to move away from the school, talking to the male for 10 to 15 minutes before deputies arrived, according to reports.

October 22, 2003: New York, NY
Two male alleged gang members, ages 16 and 18, were arrested for allegedly slashing a 15-year-old student in the face outside of a high school in an incident reportedly triggered by the victim having grabbed a female’s buttocks.

October 22, 2003: Concord, NC
A 15-year-old male high school student was arrested for an alleged plot to detonate explosive at his school and on school buses.  Police reportedly found detailed plans, maps, instructions on building explosives and homemade napalm in his possession at his home.  The male also allegedly had a “corpse list” with more than 20 nicknames and descriptions of people who would be killed, including himself.

October 23, 2003:  Yreka, CA
A 12-year-old male student was stabbed by a 12-year-old male following an argument on an elementary school playground.  The victim suffered injuries to his rib cage.

October 26, 2003: Baltimore, MD
The FBI is investigating a Saudi college student and his American wife who recently videotaped a Jewish school in Baltimore and said they sent the footage to Saudi Arabia, according to law enforcement officials. The Saudi man and his wife were seen videotaping an Orthodox school for girls, Beit Yakov, on Oct. 26 and fled after witnesses wrote down their automobile’s license plate number. Law enforcement officials were contacted and later interviewed the couple, who said the video was intended for the man’s parents in Saudi Arabia. The couple has not been charged, and law enforcement officials have declined to identify them. Federal and local law enforcement officials emphasized that they have not uncovered any reason to believe the couple was casing the school. The inquiry has been broadened to Saudi Arabia, where the FBI is trying to recover the tape, and to the woman’s home state, Utah, the officials said.

October 29, 2003: Newark, NJ
Three teenage high school students, ages 17, 15, and 14, were hospitalized after being attacked inside a high school around 9am by 15 other students and possibly non-students.  The incident was believed to have stemmed from a dispute the prior day, although it was not reported to be gang-related. Two juveniles suspects were later arrested.

October 29, 2003: Marion, LA
A 14-year-old male student brought a semiautomatic pistol to school, robbed his teacher of his car keys, and took a 12-year-old male student hostage before leading deputies on a high-speed chase.  The chase, which reached up to 90mph, ended without injury after about 20 minutes.

October 30, 2003:  Guntersville, AL
A 17-year-old female student at a technical school allegedly gave birth to a child and abandoned the baby covered with toilet paper in a school restroom.

November 6, 2003: Omaha, NE
A 41-year-old male was arrested for allegedly throwing a pipe bomb into a year, causing evacuation of a nearby school.  The device was reportedly thrown into a backyard of a home because the relative of the person living there allegedly owned the suspect money.  School officials reportedly locked down the school and then left the building once police told them it was safe.

November 10, 2003:  St. John the Baptist Parish, LA
Sheriff’s officials were investigating the theft of approximately $10,000 in cash from a West John High School safe.  A school employee reported the theft around 7:23am after finding the safe open and its contents scattered. The safe reportedly contained revenue primarily from the school’s Friday night homecoming game.

November 10, 2003:  Washington, DC
A 16-year-old student assaulted a 17-year-old student, and then 15 to 20 other students joined the brawl in a gang-related dispute inside a high school cafeteria around 12:15pm.  Two 16-year-old students were reportedly  taken to the hospital for a checkup and a police officer with an accelerated heartbeat was taken as well.

November 10, 2003:  Vidor, TX
Five high school students were barred from school and two of the five were in custody, according to the school’s superintendent, for allegedly plotting to shoot more than 20 students and four school administrators.

November 10, 2003: Charlotte, NC
A shooting near an elementary school left a man with two gunshot wounds and prompted a lockdown of the elementary school.

November 11, 2003: Detroit, MI
The mother of an 11-year-old student allegedly walked into a classroom full of students and began choking and pushing her daughter’s teacher.  Police were still looking for the parent at the time of the report.

November 13, 2003: Hayward, CA
Hayward High School was ordered locked down for about two hours after police received a report of a possibly armed non-student youth on campus. Police did not locate the suspect.

November 17, 2003:  Hyde Park, NY
A 35-year-old male assistant high school principal was charged with falsely reporting a November 3rd incident where he alleged he was stabbed in a school restroom.  Police alleged that the administrator inflicted stab wounds on himself.

November 17, 2003:  Charlotte, NC
A 44-year-old high school principal was taken to the hospital for treatment of knife wounds, bruises, and possible broken bones after being found by staff on an athletic field around 8:20am.  The administrator stated that he was making a routine walk around the campus, saw three people spray painting bricks, and confronted them.  He stated that one of the individuals pulled a knife and tried to stab him, and during the struggle another pulled out a chrome handgun, pointed the gun at him, and another hit him in the head with a blunt object.  He stated that they then dragged him 500 yards to a softball field dugout where they kicked, stabbed, and punched him.  Police investigations were ongoing as there reportedly were difficulties in verifying the above reported nature of the alleged attack.

November 18, 2003:  Miami, FL
A 20-year-old male was arrested after hijacking a school bus with 38 students on board and ordering the driver to take him to a stadium to save the kids from terrorists. A high school assistant principal coincidentally driving near the bus observed unusual conduct, cut in front of the bus, and got onboard the bus after it stopped, talking to the hijacker until police arrived.

November 20-21, 2003: Stillwater, MN
Multiple fights involving exchanges of racial epithets and physical altercations occurred over a two day period at a high school, resulting in 16 students being suspended.  Police and school officials were investigating the incidents.

November 22, 2003:  Redmond, WA
Five high school students were arrested on suspicion of using or selling drugs after a two-month undercover police investigation using a 22-year-old rookie police officer.

November 24, 2003:  New York, NY
Two 15-year old male high school students were stabbed near their Manhattan high school when a fight broke out outside a subway entrance.  One student was stabbed twice, the other had a puncture wound, according to officials.

December 1, 2003: Vandalia, OH
A 16-year-old male student was stabbed twice in his leg allegedly by someone wearing a black ski mask as the student entered his high school restroom around 7:40am.  The suspect fled but police recovered a knife on scene.

December 2, 2003:  Jersey City, NJ
A 13-year-old male charter school student was allegedly stabbed six times in the chest, back, shoulder, and side during a street fight while walking home from school. Three teens, ages 13, 15, & 17, were subsequently arrested.

December 2, 2003:  Detroit, MI
A 17-year-old male was reportedly beaten by a group of three suspects, at least one believed to be another student, outside of a high school.  Two students witnessed the attack and came to the victim’s aid.  The attackers reportedly kicked the victim in the head while one beat him with a pipe. The father of the suspect reportedly said that the attack may be related to an alleged sexual assault involving a female.

December 4, 2003: Augusta, GA
A high school student was stabbed multiple times by another student on his school bus, according to police. The students, both juveniles, reportedly confronted each other on the bus and one student pulled a knife, stabbing the other student several times.

December 5, 2003:  Newburgh, NY
A fight involving at least 150 teenagers, some armed with golf clubs, metal rods, and tree limbs, broke out in front of Newburgh Free Academy.  One 18-year-old who was arrested in the rumble told police that he was forced to defend himself from friends of another 18-year-old who was stabbed the day before in the city.

December 8, 2003:  Tucson, AZ
Approximately 1,500 magnet school students were held inside their school in a lockdown while people searched for two suspects in the robbery of a nearby credit union.  The school normally dismisses at 3:50pm, but students were held until around 4:40pm because of the incident.  One of the suspects was found a short distance from the school, according to police.

December 8, 2003: Nassau County, NY
An argument during a lunch break between two alternative school students, both age 16, escalated into a shoving match and ended with police arresting 14 people for disorderly conduct and trespassing. The two students originally in the fight had been sent home separately but returned with others, many of them not students. Some who were arrested have previously been identified by police as gang members, according to police.

December 9, 2003:  Palm Beach Gardens, FL
An 18-year-old high school student was stabbed three times during a lunchtime fight with another 18-year-old student.  The suspect would be charged with attempted murder, according to police. The suspect reportedly pulled out a jackknife with a four-inch blade during an argument in a courtyard.

December 9, 2003: Sacramento, CA
A 14-year-old female student pulled out a steak knife and stabbed a 15-year-old female student in the side of the chest during a lunchtime altercation in their high school cafeteria, according to school security officials. Both students were taken in ambulances to a hospital where the female with the stab wound underwent exploratory surgery.  The other female reportedly was treated for a broken nose.  Reports indicate that the altercation was over a boy.

December 9, 2003:  Cleburne, TX
Three middle school students were reportedly stabbed and received what school officials described as “puncture wounds” by another student. Doctors reportedly believed that the wounds were caused by a small blade, possibly a utility knife type weapon.  The suspect was suspended and police will file charges.

December 11, 2003:  Annandale, VA
A 15-year-old male high school student was stabbed in the neck after school.  The student was first attacked near the school but got away, but the attackers caught up with him at a shopping center parking lot and stabbed him in the neck.  Police reportedly believe that the student may have been a victim of gang-related violence.

December 11, 2003:  New York, NY
A 15-year-old ninth-grade high school student was stabbed in the bicep by a 16-year-old classmate.  In unrelated incidents in NYC Schools this same week, an eighth-grade male punched a teacher in the jaw, chest, and groin in a detention room at a junior high school.  Three students were also arrested at a high school for fighting with two school security officers.

December 12, 2003:  New York, NY
Seven students were arrested at a Queens high school during a 9:50am disturbance which reportedly began as a fight among four high school females.  Police arrested the girls but a group of boys began running back and forth on the second floor of the schools, causing police to spray the hallway with pepper spray.  The boys continued and were eventually arrested for disorderly conduct, according to reports.

December 16, 2003: Detroit, MI
Sic weapons, including knives and razor blades, were confiscated as police and school officials conducted an unannounced weapons sweep at Henry Ford High School.

December 16, 2003:  Las Cruces, NM
A high school student and a school security officer were hospitalized after a fight involving 80 to 100 students broke out near the school gym. The student was treated for head injuries and the teacher was treated for leg and head injuries. Four suspects were detained.

December 17, 2003: New Orleans, LA
A 17-year-old suspended student reportedly attacked a school security officer, sending the security officer to the hospital after he was repeatedly punched and kicked.

December 17, 2003:  Conyers, GA
A 51-year-old male, the estranged husband of a high school Spanish teacher, was arrested for allegedly bursting into her classroom during a final exam and attempting to stab the teacher in the chest. Students grabbed the male and disarmed him. The teacher said she is in the final stages of divorce after seven years and had a restraining order against her husband.

December 18, 2003:  Ukiah, CA
A 15-year-old female alleged gang member was stabbed in the back three times by a 16-year-old alleged female rival gang member during a fight on school grounds.  One of the victim’s lungs reportedly collapsed and both lungs filled with blood, according to reports.

January 6, 2004:  New York, NY
Eight NY City School students were arrested in one day, including at three of 12 schools targeted by Mayor Bloomberg using additional police officers to fight school violence. A total of five students were arrested at Far Rockaway High School in Queens, including two brothers who allegedly injured a pair of school security agents during a fight; two for disorderly conduct; and one for carrying a box cutter. At South Shore High School in Brooklyn, a 15-year-old boy was arrested after he assaulted two school safety agents in a dean’s office. Two students were also arrested for disorderly conduct at Franklin K. Lane High School in Queens.

January 9, 2004: Dayton, OH
A 16-year-old male student brought a .38 caliber gun to school and held it to the head of another student who had allegedly been harassing him, according to news reports. The gun was confiscated and nobody was injured.  The student was taken into custody and charged by authorities.

January 10, 2004: Rochester, NY
Two teenagers confronted the principal of Sacred Heart Cathedral School around 6:30 p.m. as she was cleaning snow off her car. They asked her if she wanted to buy a Rolex and when she said she didn’t understand, they demanded money. When she said she didn’t have any, one hit her in the head several times with a gun.

January 13, 2004:  New York, NY
At least 14 students were arrested at New York City schools on this single day, including 11 arrested during a cafeteria brawl at a Brooklyn high school, according to police. The cafeteria fight broke out at about 12:45 p.m. and eleven students, all males between the ages of 14 and 17, were arrested; 10 were charged with disorderly conduct and one with harassment, police said. A 17-year-old non-student was arrested for criminal trespassing. In unrelated incidents, two females were arrested for third-degree assault after they allegedly jumped a 40-year-old teacher at a Manhattan high school and a 15-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly assaulting three school safety agents at a high school in the Bronx.

January 13, 2004:  Dutchtown, LA
Two high school students, ages 17 and 19, were arrested for arrested and accused of plotting a massacre on the fifth anniversary of the Columbine killings in April of 2004.  Drawings of a teacher’s brains being blown out and dead bodies around the school were among items reportedly found by police after a tip lead them to investigate.

January 15, 2004:  Knoxville, TN
A 16-year-old female high school student in Knox County is charged with trying to kill a 35-year-old mother of another student by running her over with a vehicle in front of the school.  The victim was reportedly at the school to deal with a conflict between her daughter and the 16-year-old suspect over a boy.

January 17, 2004:  Columbus, OH
A large fight involving over 100 teenagers broke out at a Columbus high school during an emotional overtime basketball game.

January 17, 2004:  Casper, WY
Schools were locked down for an hour and a half after a man escaped while being transferred from the Wyoming Behavioral Institute into Wyoming State Hospital custody.

January 18, 2004:  Richmond, VA
Richmond school system officials reported having 85 weapons offenses in the first four months of this school year, compared with 94 offenses in all of 2002-03. A week prior to this report, a student threatened to beat up a security guard and another slashed a classmate’s head with a box cutter as the girl stepped off the bus. Several others were caught bringing knives to school, police said.

January 21, 2004: New York, NY
Ten students were arrested following a brawl involving up to 50 students at a Bronx high school.  Reports indicate that a group of suspended students returned to the school and became involved in an altercation with another group of students.

January 22, 2004: Holt, AL
A 15-year-old male high school student threatened a classmate with an unloaded 9 mm gun for allegedly stealing his milk and harassing him.  Students fled the school cafeteria when the gun was shown. A sheriff’s deputy who was at the school at the time immediately took the boy with the gun into custody. No shots were fired, and no one was injured.

January 23, 2004: New York, NY
A 17-year-old female student was stabbed with a kitchen knife by another 17-year-old female student at a Manhattan subway station while on the way to school.  Reports indicate that the victim stumbled into the school and screamed she was stabbed.  She was taken to the hospital for treatment.

January 26, 2004: Philadelphia, PA
A 19-year-old female was arrested for allegedly stabbing her daughter and leaving her in a snow-covered elementary schoolyard.

January 28, 2004: Houston, TX
Two high school students, ages 15 and 17, were stabbed in a fight in by a 16-year-old student.

January 30, 2004: El Paso, TX
El Paso school police responded to a reported gang-related stabbing just after 11:30 in the morning.  A student allegedly flashed another student a gang signal.  He was then called to the principal’s office and then fled the office, ran outside, and had another altercation with a different student across the street from the school. A knife was pulled, and the student allegedly stabbed the other student in the forearm.

January 30, 2004:  Walnut Creek, CA
A 16-year-old female high school student was stabbed five times during a fight as she was leaving a school basketball game.  The victim, a known peace advocate, was hospitalized with a punctured lung. Reports indicate the victim had fought with the assailants before, although the reason for this fight was not known at the time of the report. One of the assailants was also reportedly treated at the hospital for cuts.

January 30, 2004: Rio Rancho, NM
A 15-year-old male high school student was arrested for bringing a .357 handgun to school and pointing it at a student in gym class at 11:45am.  A 17-year-old male was also arrested as an accomplice for holding ammunition for the gun.

February 2, 2004: Jackson County, MO
A 12-year-old male middle school student who left a threatening note at home indicating he was tired of being bullied and that he was taking some weapons was apprehended by police with weapons. When a deputy spotted the boy walking along a highway, he dropped a backpack and ran. After a short foot chase, he was taken into custody. Deputies said that they found a fully loaded and cocked revolver in the boy’s pants, along with another gun, several rounds of ammunition, a large knife, and other items.

February 3, 2004: St. Johns County, FL
A 14-year-old male student was arrested for assaulting a 12-year-old male student at a bus stop, resulting in the victim requiring 13 stitches to the eye.

February 4, 2004: Lauderhill, FL
Two fourth-grade male elementary students, ages 11 and 12, were arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in an elementary school bathroom. Both suspects admitted to the assault.

February 4, 2004: Frederick, MD
A 15-year-old male student was stabbed in the leg with a pocket knife on a school bus during an argument with another teen.

February 4, 2004: Richland Township, MI
A 15-year-old female high school student is charged with intent to commit murder and having a concealed weapon after stabbing a 12-year-old girl while on the bus on the way home.  The suspect, according to police, stabbed a middle school student five times in the back and twice in the arm with no apparent provocation.

February 4, 2004: Pittsburgh, PA
An irate motorist shouted at a city school bus driver while displaying a handgun on the seat beside him, but did not point the gun at the bus or driver.  The exchange occurred as the driver was stopped to drop off students at an intersection where the bus had partially blocked intersection traffic from coming through until the students cleared the area. The driver saw the gun on the seat of the vehicle as the driver was pulling away from the area. School police were notified.

February 5, 2004: Baytown, TX
A 17-year-old high school student was allegedly stabbed a male attempting to enroll in his high school.  The suspect reportedly had taken the victim’s wallet while they were in a restroom and when the victim attempted to get the wallet back, the suspect allegedly scraped the victim with a knife.

February 5, 2004:  Farmington, NM
A male alternative high school student was stabbed three times in the back while in the school parking lot.  School administrators reported that the victim may have broken windows in a nearby car which contained the suspect.  The conflict allegedly stemmed from an off-campus dispute.

February 6, 2004:  Pittsburgh, PA
A 47-year-old male parent body-slammed a 57-year-old high school referee after he ordered the man’s wife out of the gym for allegedly yelling obscenities during a basketball game. The referee was treated at a hospital for a concussion and released.  The male suspect was charged with assault and his wife was cited for disorderly conduct.

February 7-8, 2004:  Detroit, MI
Three teenagers, two age 16 and one age 15, were arrested for a vandalism spree on January 31st and February 7-8 resulting in over $250,000 in damage to musical instruments at one high school and over $20,000 in damage to property at another school.

February 9, 2004:  Woodbridge, VA
A 14-year-old boy who wrote that he wanted to blow up his school had a cache of weapons and bomb-making materials in his bedroom, according to police.  Police reportedly found shotguns, rifles, scopes, handguns, knives, ammunition clips and gunpowder containers.  The guns were legally owned by his father, police said.

February 9, 2004:  Hartford, CT
Three students were stabbed during a 7:30am fight stemming from a conflict at a weekend party.  Two of the victims were stabbed in the stomach and the third was stabbed in the leg. Four individuals were taken into custody following the fight.

February 10, 2004: Schenectady, NY
At least 12 individuals were taken into custody around 9:30pm for what police described as at least five pockets of fights at a rival high school basketball game.  No one was injured and no weapons were confiscated.  Metal detectors had been used to screen attendees as a security precaution.

February 10, 2004: Kearns, UT
Four male junior high school students were arrested for plotting to set pff a bomb inside their school.  Several students spotted the one male in possession of an item later found to be a homemade bomb and told school administrators. School officials found the device, which was about the size of fist, in the boy’s pocket.  Police indicated the boy wished to harm another student who had bumped into him several weeks prior to this incident. Police also found other materials to make bombs during a search of the home.  The boys reportedly had learned how to make the bomb after finding a recipe on a web site found on a public library computer.

February 11, 2004: Glen Allen, VA
Two middle school students were arrested after a lunchroom brawl that ended with a 54-year-old teacher being assaulted.

February 11, 2004: Elk Grove, CA
Two 15-year-old male high school students were arrested on February 8th and 10th for what police say was a plan to open fire on a group of students during their lunch on February 11th.  The males reportedly planned to steal guns from a local sporting goods store and set off explosives in the high school’s cafeteria, according to police. Police also found a hand-drawn map of the school cafeteria and hate drawings including swastikas.

February 12, 2004: Palm Beach County, FL
According to the Florida School Indicators Report, Palm Beach County middle schools reported a 62 percent increase in cases of students having dangerous items in school, compared with a 12 percent increase statewide. High schools reported a 26 percent increase, compared with 2 percent statewide. The district averages were higher than the state’s at middle and high schools in weapons possession.

February 12, 2004: Jacksonville, FL
Nine high school students and one former student were arrested for a 12:15pm brawl that started in the school cafeteria and spilled into the hallway.

February 12, 2004:  Philadelphia, PA
Four female high school students were arrested following a fight in the school cafeteria which left a school police officer with a broken nose.  In an unrelated incident, a teacher was assaulted by two male students, who are brothers, on the school’s third floor.

February 12, 2004:  Stafford, TX
A 16-year-old male high school student was arrested for stealing a loaded .45-caliber handgun out of a teacher’s briefcase when the teacher stepped out of the room.  The student was suspended and the teacher was placed on administrative leave during the investigation.

February 12, 2004:  Cicero, IL
Two male high school students, ages 14 and 15, were stabbed in a gang-related fight on the second floor hallway of their high school around 2:45pm.  The initial fight involved two groups of around five students each. Both students were taken to the hospital, the 14-year-old being released and the 15-year-old held in the hospital.

February 13, 2004: Miami, FL
Police arrested 11 high school students following an after-school brawl involving dozens of students, according to police. At one point, the crowd charged at the school police officers who were trying to control the crowd, according to police.  One officer was shoved to the ground but no injuries were reported.

February 13, 2004:  Indian Head, MD
A 16-year-old female high school student stabbed a 16-year-old male fellow student with scissors after the male had snapped a rubber band at her in the hallway.  The victim was flown by helicopter to the hospital for minor injuries.

February 17, 2004: San Francisco, CA
A 16-year-old alternative school student was chased several blocks from his school around 2:45pm and stabbed multiple times in what police suspected was a gang-related incident.

February 17, 2004: Nashau, NH
Three teens, two 16-year-olds and one 17-year-old, were detained and two were later arrested for breaking into a vehicle in a high school parking lot and assaulting a school security officer who approached them while the crime was in progress.

February 19, 2004: Bellevue, NE
A custodian found a bomb device at the edge of a field next to a middle school. The bomb squad was called, the students were moved to a safe section of the school. The device was blown up without incident and there were no injuries.  Police said the device had no fuse and likely could not have been detonated.

February 19, 2004: Philadelphia, PA
A 13-year-old male was slashed in the face by a 15-year-old male at an elementary school just before students were about to be dismissed at 3:30pm.

February 23, 2004:  Houston, TX
A 17-year-old charter school student was stabbed in the neck and shoulders during a group attack on a school bus.  The victim received 40 stitches according to his mother.  Houston police are investigating.

February 23, 2004:  Dade City, FL
A Pasco County school resource officer arrested a 13-year-old male student for possessing a weapon, a multi-purpose tool with two knives, on school property.  His parents arrived and the boy’s father reported took the tool and stated his son was not going to jail. The father reportedly ignored repeated requests to drop the tool and became involved in an altercation with the deputy, allegedly grabbing a razor blade knife from his rear pocket. The SRO reportedly also saw a leather knife sheath on the father’s side and called for assistance. A lockdown was called.  Additional deputies responded and the father was taken into custody.

February 24, 2004:  Miramar, FL
Two male high school students, ages 17 and 16, were fighting over a girl when the 17-year-old allegedly stabbed the 16-year-old in the left bicep with a pair of scissors.   The fight and stabbing reportedly occurred around 7:50am during a gym class behind the high school.

February 25, 2004: Burbank, CA
Streets were closed off and an elementary school was locked down  during an hour-long standoff with a 23-year-old gunman who had fired a rifle inside his nearby home, according to police.

February 25, 2004:  East St. Louis, IL
Two middle school students were taken into custody and a high school student was wanted by police in unrelated incidents involving semiautomatic guns in schools.  A 15-year-old freshman was reported by fellow high school students to have had a semi-automatic gun at around 8:15am.  The school was locked down for over two hours but police were unable to locate the suspect. In an unrelated incident, an 11-year-old middle school student was arrested after a teacher found with a .25-caliber handgun.  His younger brother, age 12, was subsequently found with the bullets.

February 25, 2004: Anchorage, AK
A male high school student was stabbed and suffered a shallow wound to his chest after an altercation over a cell phone with a 16-year-old student in a crowded school hallway around 10:45am.  The suspect fled but was apprehended later in the day.

February 26, 2004: Louisville, KY
A 42-year-old father was arrested for waving a gun around after he pulled up at a high school and found two students in an altercation with his son, one of them holding a stick about to hit his son. School security officials and staff intervened and the male put down the gun before police were called.

February 26, 2004: Boise, ID
Two teenagers on a junior high school basketball court after school became involved in a fight and one stabbed the other in the shoulder.  The victim was taken to the school nurse’s office, but fled the area. Police said the suspect was in custody.

February 26, 2004:  Lawrence, MA
A 14-year-old male student was arrested after setting a substitute teacher’s sweater on fire and subsequently yelling and swearing after having to be restrained on the way to the office. The incident occurred as calls are being made for school resource officers (SROs) to be placed in the schools due to violence and safety concerns.

February 27, 2004:  Mobile, AL
Two high school sophomores engaged in a fight around 11:30am in their high school and one stabbed the other in the stomach and neck.  The suspect was arrested and charged with assault, according to reports.

February 27, 2004: Lima, OH
Four male high school students were arrested for allegedly plotting destruction at their high school.  Searches were subsequently made of their homes over the weekend for evidence, according to report.  One media report indicated the plot involved bombing the school.

February 27, 2004:  Metropolis, IL
Forty police officers responded to an on-court brawl which erupted after a rival evening basketball game.  An adult and four juveniles were treated and released at a local hospital.

March 1, 2004: New York, NY
A 14-year-old female student was arrested after going into a rage and tossing a metal pole out of her classroom window, striking an innocent 9-year-old. The victim, also a student at the school, suffered cuts after he was hit in the head and neck by the pole. In an unrelated incident at another school, a 16-year-old student was arrested for assaulting a school safety officer who spotted the student breaking a glass window inside the school. The student was charged with second-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon after police found a box-cutter and a screwdriver in his pockets.

March 1, 2004: Naples, FL
Sheriff’s deputies arrested two 15-year-olds and one 14-year-old, all high school students, in connection with a plot to bomb their high school.  Witness and suspect statements, along with items confiscated from the bedrooms of two suspects, reportedly confirmed the plot.

March 2, 2004: Bay Minette, FL
An 18-year-old male was arrested after an 8-year-old elementary student reported that the male threatened him in a school restroom and showed him a gun. The suspect was apprehended by police down the street from the school.  He was reportedly found in possession of a fake gun.

March 2, 2004: Holt, MI
A 21-year-old male was arrested for allegedly stabbing a 17-year-old male high school student in the alternative school’s parking lot during lunch hour.

March 4, 2004: New York, NY
A 15-year-old male high school student was stabbed in the back during his lunch hour close to a parking garage nearby his school.  He was able to return to the school where 911 was called. The victim was treated and released at the hospital.

March 5, 2004:  Lake Worth, FL
An 18-year-old brother of a second grader and his 41-year-old mother were arrested after visiting an elementary school around 7:40am.  They began making threats and calling staff names, at which time the school’s police officer advised them to leave and come back at the end of the day to resolve their matter when fewer people were in the school.  The two walked out, but returned and started banging on the front door glass.  The 18-year-old male reportedly broke the glass as the school police officer called for back-up.  After a struggle with the 18-year-old male, during which time he was pepper-sprayed, he broke loose and started to reach in the passenger side of his van as a deputy and school police officer attempted to subdue him.  The male and his mother were eventually arrested. During the episode, he reportedly injured himself, a school guidance counselor, and the school police officer.  The school was put into a lockdown during the altercation.

March 5, 2004: Brick, NJ
A 14-year-old male vocational school student was arrested after police found his backpack filled with homemade explosives left unattended in a school hallway. The backpack was found by a group of students who were discussing its contents when a teacher overheard them and reported it to the school’s administration, who in turn called police around 8:23am.

March 5, 2004: San Diego, CA
Two 14-year-old male middle school students were arrested for allegedly plotting to kill a teacher who had flunked one of them. The plan was interrupted after another student told his parents about their plans after overhearing them talking about it. The boys were arrested at school about a half-hour before the killing was to occur, which was after school when the teacher was known for staying to help students. A .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol belonging to the father of one of the suspects was found hidden in the bushes outside the school and a ski mask was found in the backpack of one of the suspects. One suspect was allegedly planning to put on a ski mask, walk into the female teacher’s classroom, and shoot her. The suspects were booked for investigation of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a weapon on school grounds.

March 9, 2004:  Billerica, MA
An 18-year-old male high school student was stabbed three times in  the upper rib area and another 18-year-old male student from the same school was struck in the face with a club during a fight in a parking lot after a division finals hockey tournament.

March 10, 2004: Phoenix, AZ
A private high school was put into lockdown after 20 students were rushed inside as police captured a suspect wanted in a murder who had fled from them but was caught in front of the school after a chase.

March 10, 2004:  Brodheadsville, PA
A 15-year-old male student was found with several stab wounds at a school bus stop.  Three suspects were later arrested.

March 15, 2004:  Daleville, AL
A 17-year-old female high school student was arrested for stabbing an 18-year-old female behind the ear, in the arm and twice in the back while in the school lunchroom.

March 16, 2004:  Double Oak, TX
Police plan to arrest a 13-year-old male middle school student upon his return from vacation with his family after having found bomb- making instructions and maps of a school’s ventilation system in his backpack, which had been found near a pond.

March 16, 2004:  Los Angeles, CA
A 16-year-old high school male was arrested after he reportedly overheard threatening to shoot two fellow students, according to police. A search of his home by police reportedly turned up more than 50 rounds of live ammunition and two BB guns.  Although no firearms were found, police reportedly learned that the boy was trying to get a gun and expected to have it in several days.

March 16, 2004:  Ferndale, MI
A 48-year-old female physical education teacher at a school for emotionally disturbed students was attacked from behind as she left the gym to walk to her office. The victim was reportedly found unconscious by a fellow staff member with cuts, bruises, and a bloody nose. No suspects were known at the time of the report.

March 17, 2004: Forsyth, MT
Two 8-year-old boys and a 11-year-old male fellow student were arrested after they buried a loaded handgun in a playground sandbox and plotted to shoot and stab a third-grade girl during recess, according to police and school officials. The plot included a .22-caliber revolver, a knife and a box of bullets that were all hidden on the playground.

March 17, 2004:  Malcolm, NE
A 17-year-old male high school student was arrested after police found bomb materials and a rifle in the trunk of his car in the parking lot of a high school-middle school building. Investigators reportedly found around 20 homemade explosive devices, a bolt-action rifle, several rounds of ammunition, small bottles of propane and rigged containers of a petroleum-based propellant inside the car. The suspect, who reportedly suffers from bipolar disorder, had allegedly planned to spare only three people whose name he had on a list with him.  Officials were reportedly acting upon a tip from a student.

March 17, 2004:  Racine, WI
A 13-year-old male middle school student was arrested for allegedly stabbing a 14-year-old student after a snowball fight escalated into a physical confrontation after school. Police report that the victim suffered a half-inch wound from the stabbing.

March 18, 2004:  McComb, MS
A 12-year-old male junior high school student was stabbed in the abdomen with a steak knife during a fight at the school.  Police were reportedly questioning a 14-year-old female student.

March 19, 2004: Washington, DC
Police were sent to 262 public and private DC schools after an Internet bomb threat was discovered that said explosive devices had been planted at five schools. The message was delivered to city police in an e-mail just before 6 a.m. warning of  explosions at five schools, but no specific schools were specified. Nothing suspicious was found.

March 22, 2004: Hartford, CT
A high school teacher received 26 stitches (13 to the shoulder and 13 for a gash in the back) after being attacked by a student while breaking up a fight in the school lobby.  The student, one of the alleged fighters, turned on the teacher and threw him into a glass case containing a fire extinguisher.

March 23, 2004:  Boston, MA
A 14-year-old female middle school student was allegedly stabbed in the abdomen by a 15-year-old male student during an altercation while awaiting a public bus on the way to school. The victim lost a part of her liver which had to be cut out during emergency surgery following the altercation.

March 24, 2004: Largo, FL
Police reportedly preempted a plot by several middle school students who planned to ambush the campus police officer and go on a shooting spree. Police say the plot was supposed to start a week and a half prior at the back side of the 1,400-student school. Two eighth-grade students were going to lure the school resource officer there and overpower him, according to reports.

March 24, 2004: Syracuse, NY
A 14-year-old male student was stabbed after a fight broke out around 9:30 am this morning in a hallway of the school. Police believe the dispute involved revival gangs. The victim suffered stab wounds to the upper right arm and both forearms. Two 14-year-olds and a 13-year-old were charged with gang assault and a 16-year-old student has been charged with menacing after calling for others to come to the school and shoving a teacher who intervened.

March 24, 2004:  Pennsauken, NJ
A 19-year-old male non-student was arrested in connection with an altercation in a high school parking lot around 2pm in which two male students were slashed, one in the buttocks and the other in the abdomen, during a six-person brawl.  A 20-year-old and two juveniles were also arrested right after the incident.

March 24, 2004:  Bellevue, WA
A 16-year-old male high school student brought a loaded 9mm handgun to school and pointed it to his own head while crying near the school’s library around 11:25am. A teacher was able to pull the gun away.

March 27, 2004:  Tamaqua, PA
A 20-year-old male was arrested for allegedly biting off a piece of a police officers’ earlobe after being evicted from a high school play for drinking and yelling.

March 30, 2004:  Allentown, PA
A 15-year-old male high school student was charged with attempted homicide after stabbing two teenage boys around 3:00pm after school near Allen High School. One victim was stabbed five times and the other was stabbed at least twice, according to reports of court documents.

March 30, 2004:  Sarasota, FL
An 18-year-old male senior at a Catholic high school was charged with threatening to shoot classmates and to detonate a bomb at the school graduation. Sheriff’s deputies searched the grounds of the private school, but found no weapons.  However, they did find “papers talking about violence” in the student’s backpack, according to reports.

March 31, 2004:  London, OH
A 17-year-old male high school student was reportedly caught on a school bus video tape beating a 14-year-old male student, punching him at least 27 times before the bus driver stopped the attack. The victim suffered a concussion and fractured eye socket, according to his mother.

March 31, 2004:  Seattle, WA
A female high school student was slashed in the face during an altercation with another student in the school lunchroom.  The suspect fled the building but was subsequently apprehended.  The victim was taken to the hospital. School officials believed the weapon was a letter opener, according to reports.

April 1, 2004: Woodlawn, MD
Two people were arrested and 11 students were suspended after a shoving match escalated into a brawl during an anger management assembly at a suburban high school. A confrontation between a student’s mother and a group of girls who had been bothering her daughter turned into a shouting match, moved to pushing and hitting, and the crowd of 750 students erupted into “chaos,” according to the principal. The altercation began as students on stage acted out peaceful ways to resolve conflict.

April 6, 2004: Indianapolis, IN
An 8th-grade middle school male student was arrested for possession of a gun in a Pike Township school.  The arrest led police to find 11 more firearms dumped in a water company canal.  Police say the weapons were taken from a home burglary. A total of three students and a 21-year-old male were arrested in connection with the guns and the burglary.

April 7, 2004: San Antonio, TX
An eighth-grade male middle school student was stabbed in the neck with a pen during an altercation outside of school.  The victim was hospital and in fair condition at the time of the report.

April 19, 2004:  Sioux City, IA
A 15-year-old male high school student was arrested for plotting a Columbine-style attack at his school.  The male reportedly admitted to the plot and was allegedly infatuated with the Columbine killers.  No weapons were found in the school lockers.

April 19, 2004:  Madison, WI
A 16-year-old reportedly stabbed a 17-year-old in the arm and abdomen around noon in a parking lot nearby the high school.  The 17-year-old required 90 stitches, according to reports.

April 21, 2004:  Charleston WV
Two 14-year-old males got into a fight, reportedly over a girl, behind a middle school around 1:30pm. The suspect, not a student at the school, reportedly stabbed the victim (a student) in the back with a knife.  The victim ran in the school and collapsed in the nurse’s office, regaining consciousness upon the arrival of paramedics. The suspect’s parents later turned the suspect in to police.

April 22, 2004:  Eden Prairie, MN
A high school was locked down and thousands of students sent home following a report of a person seen with a gun at the school around 8:00am.  Police arrested a 21-year old male non-student on suspicion of making threats to use a gun, and three other students were also detained by school staff members.

April 28, 2004:  Boston, MA
A 14-year-old, 7th-grade male middle school student was stabbed three times as he stood at a transit station with a group of fellow students after school.  A 15-year-old male suspect was arrested.

April 29, 2004:  New York, NY
A 16-year-old male high school was stabbed after school in a Manhattan subway station and fled his attackers, running across four tracks to the opposite platform.  A 20-year-old male believed to have been trying to brake up the fight was also stabbed.  Police said the argument was sparked when the male made a comment to a girl who was traveling with 10 other males.

April 30, 2004: Mount Vernon, WA
A 14-year-old female middle school student was reportedly beaten unconscious by several other girls at a chaperoned dance for middle school honors students, according to police.  Two female suspects,  ages 12 and 14, were reported to be in police custody. The victim was said to have suffered cuts and bruises, and was treated at a hospital.

May 3, 2004:  Sunrise, FL
A fight broke out between four to five students outside a high school related to a weekend fight at a party over girl. As security personnel arrived, two students reportedly left and entered the campus. Inside, a second fight reportedly erupted where a 17-year-old student allegedly stabbed another 17-year-old student.

May 4, 2004:  Rockaway Beach, NY
A group of teenagers beat and stabbed a 17-year-old male who was on his way home from an area high school.

May 11, 2004:  Clinton, NC
Congressman Bob Etheridge, while speaking at an elementary school, helped subdue an adult female who interrupted his presentation, threatened him, and came toward him with her hand in her purse while saying she had a gun.  Police found no gun in the bag, but did find one in her car.

May 12, 2004: Garland, TX
A grand jury indicted 34 people, aged 14 to 21, for riot participation/aggravated assault/serious bodily injury, for a March 3rd gang fight which was arranged on the Internet and videotaped.  The incident allegedly involved 27 high school students.

May 12, 2004: Chicago, IL
A 56-year-old female, senior kindergarten teacher was stabbed in the torso by a robber on the school’s front steps around 6:00am.  She was found by other teachers.  She was hospitalized and in good condition according to a report.

May 12, 2004: Detroit, MI
A 43-year-old male school security officer was punched several times and knocked to the ground while trying to break up a fight around 11:00am at his high school.

May 12, 2004:  Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Police arrested 11 high school students after a brawl in a school courtyard between classes.

May 14, 2004:  Winder, GA
Two 14-year-old male middle school students were arrested for plotting a “Columbine-style” killing spree plot.

May 17, 2004:  Brevard County, FL
A 17-year-old high school student followed a school bus to the home of a 14-year-old male who had allegedly struck the 17-year-old’s car with a pen cap.  The 17-year-old reportedly demanded an apology, the 14-year-old refused, and the two became involved in a fight.  During the fight, the 17-year-old allegedly pulled out a knife but was somehow stabbed with it.

May 19, 2004:  Harrison Township MI
One student was stabbed in the leg by another students during an altercation around 12:30pm in a science lab classroom. Police arrested the suspect.

May 24, 2004:  Longview, TX
Two 13-year-old female students became involved in an altercation shortly after 3:00pm by the school’s office and one was stabbed in the back of the head several times with scissors, according to police.

May 24, 2004:  Philadelphia, PA
A 14-year-old female middle school student was reportedly slashed in the face, head, and neck with a box cutter after several girls allegedly surrounded and attacked her outside of the school.  Police found her in a pool of blood several blocks away.

May 24, 2004:  Kamas, UT
Two high school sophomores were arrested for reportedly planning a violent rampage at their school which included a drafted “rudimentary tactical plan,” according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies reportedly found a diagram, which included the entrances and exits for South Summit High School, amid hundreds of pages of violent images allegedly showing the two 15-year-olds shooting and raping teachers and classmates. Two classmates allegedly indicated that at least one of the teens attempted to buy or borrow a handgun the classmate’s parents owned.

May 26, 2004:  Mercer Island, WA
A Mercer Island middle school closed as police investigated a report that students planned to bring weapons to school. School officials closed through the end of the week. A 14-year-old eighth grader had been arrested on May 24, 2004. A school resource officer found an unloaded .38-caliber revolver and two bullets in the boy’s backpack.

May 27, 2004:  Bountiful, UT
A 57-year-old female suburban junior high math teacher was arrested for allegedly threatening to go on a shooting rampage if she did not get the assignments she wanted, according to police.  The teacher was was taken into custody while on her lunch break at a fast food restaurant, and charged with making a terroristic threat.

May 27, 2004:  Victorville, CA
A high school student was stabbed in the upper left chest near the shoulder around 2:30pm.

May 28, 2004:  Brooklyn, NY
A 13-year-old boy was stabbed in the back in a Brooklyn schoolyard by two suspects, ages 14 and 17, while he was on the schoolyard at 12:45pm. Police later arrested the two suspects.

June 2, 2004:  Richmond, VA
Two males reportedly got into a fight and one of the two pulled out a small blade knife and slashed at the other student. The victim was reportedly cut above the eye and along his chest and torso.

June 6, 2004:  Tallahassee, FL
Two teenage female middle school students, ages 14 and 15, allegedly used the sign-in book at their school to steal the identities of a dozen teachers and buy $5,000 worth of phones, clothes, and food  with the help of two adults, who were also arrested.

June 9, 2004: Waterbury, CT
Seven seventh-graders were arrested after a food fight in their middle school cafeteria.  Two teachers and a detective were injured during the altercation, according to reports.

June 9, 2004:  Pittsfield, MA
A bomb filled with .22-caliber nail-gun charges was placed in a trash can near the building’s rear entrance.  It  detonated just as students were arriving for classes.  No suspects were known at the time of the report.

June 10, 2004:  Victorville, CA
A 17-year-old male, who attended a different school, showed up on his 14-year-old girlfriend’s campus and stabbed the female and then himself after they both walked into a bathroom together around 7:30am. The male reportedly stabbed the female in the chest once and then stabbed himself in the chest three times. The male had allegedly told classmates that if the girl broke up with him, there might be some violence.

June 11, 2004:  Marysville, CA
A 17-year-old male received a deep knife slash in his side during an altercation outside of an intermediate school graduation ceremony around 8:55pm. The victim reportedly was one of four individuals involved in a fight with 10 to 16 other youths in the parking lot of the high school football stadium.

June 18, 2004:  Gainesville, VA
A 12-year-old male middle school student was charged with bringing a loaded .30-06 rifle, another rifle, and a shotgun to the school.  An assistant principal found him changed into camouflage clothes and loading one of the guns in a restroom stall. He called police while the school quickly implemented a lockdown.  The suspect’s mother, a cafeteria worker in the school, was charged with possession of a firearm on school property as she reportedly knew the weapons were in her car but did not report them.  The suspect allegedly took the keys and got the weapons out of the car after they had arrived together that morning. The suspect reportedly threatened school office staff but was subdued by police before harming anyone.

June 26, 2004:  Rochester, NY
Two individuals were reportedly stabbed at a high school graduation ceremony.  A school district spokeswoman reportedly identified one victim as a female student and the other as the brother of one of the graduates.

June 28, 2004:  Pittsburgh, PA
A 15-year-old male charter high school student was arrested after other students reported that he was plotting to blow up the school. Several ninth-grade students told a school administrator that the suspect had a detailed floor plan and had been looking at web sites that showed how to make explosives.  School administrators met with the student and his father, and obtained the notebook.  Police were notified and arrested the student that evening at his home.

June 29, 2004:  Garden Grove, CA
Police reportedly indicated that a continuation school student was stabbed in the neck around noon during an argument. The wound was considered superficial.  Police indicated that two groups of students were arguing when the victim ran and the assailant chased him. The victim turned and was stabbed on the side of the throat.

July 7, 2004:  Norcross, GA
Four suspects came onto a middle school campus and attacked a 14-year-old male summer school student in the school’s courtyard. Three of the four suspects reportedly punched the victim while the fourth stood nearby and displayed a handgun to intimidate bystanders, according to police reports. One 16-year-old suspect was subsequently arrested. Police state that the  attackers identified themselves as members of the La Raza street gang.

July 13, 2004:  Richmond, RI
State troopers and local police received a 911 call to a local middle school reporting that three youths were walking on school grounds wearing black clothing, black gloves and dark sunglasses. They were also carrying firearms. Police confronted the teens in a parking lot and ordered them to the ground at gunpoint. Police found two air rifles, a paint gun and two single-shot cap guns wrapped in black electrical paint. No ammunition was found with the guns. Detectives later learned the teens had not threatened anyone and were attempting to make a movie, apparently a spinoff of the action film, “The Matrix.” Two 15-year-old males and a 16-year-old male were charged with possession of a firearm by a minor and possession of a firearm on school grounds.

July 29, 2004:  Union City, CA
A 15-year-old male middle school student was stabbed in his right arm with a knife having a 4-inch blade after being approached by several teens outside his middle school. The attackers reportedly fled in a van.