2025 marked the lowest amount of school shootings since 2020 when schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2018, there has been a recorded 239 school shootings where at least one person was killed or injured. In this time, 147 people were killed and 420 people were injured, according to Education Week.
In 2025, seven people died and 44 people were injured in school shootings, down from 18 people in 2024 and 21 people in 2023, Education Week reports. 2022 reached a high of 40 people killed.
In 2025, 111 days went by without a school shooting. The dates, May 7 through Aug. 27, largely ran through the summer months when schools were closed for summer vacations.
There has yet to be an explanation for the sudden drop in school shootings. Experts have noted the drop may be contributed to education facilities prioritizing school safety infrastructure, providing mental health needs and partnering with local law enforcement. After it was rumored that a propped open door allowed an assailant to come into an elementary school and kill 19 students and two teachers, while injuring 17 others at the Uvalde School District in Texas, many schools took it upon themselves to reassess their security practices. For example, Alishia Jolivette, chief of facilities and maintenance operations for Houston Independent School District, now does weekly interior and exterior door checks to ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff.
There is currently no standard definition of what counts as a school shooting. Experts believe that in order to properly track the trends, data would have to be assessed over numerous decades.
Mackenna Moralez is the associate editor of the facilities market and the host of the Facilities in Focus podcast.
