Media Push The Claim There Have Been 18 School Shootings In 2018. Here Are The Facts.
Here are some examples:
ABC News: “There have been 18 school shootings in the first 45 days of 2018, according to a nonprofit group.”
New York Daily News: “There have been 18 school shootings so far this year, including one that claimed 17 lives at a Florida public school Wednesday.”
WUSA9: “Within the first couple months of 2018, there have now been 18 school shootings across the United States.”
But that narrative was gleaned from the anti-gun group Everytown for Gun Safety. Here are some facts, in order to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to the facts:
Twice, someone shot themselves on school grounds; one incident, on January 3, featured a man shooting himself in a former school’s parking lot; on January 10 a teen killed himself in an Arizona elementary school bathroom.
Four times, a bullet was fired through a school or dorm’s window: on January 4, a gunshot was fired at a high school in Seattle through an office window; no one was hurt. On January 10, a shot was fired shattering a California State University classroom window. No injuries were reported. The same day, in Texas, a bullet was accidentally fired through a classroom wall at the Grayson College Criminal Justice Center. No one was injured. On January 15, a bullet traveled through a residential hall’s dorm room. No injuries were reported.
On January 25, a Mobile, Alabama, high school student fired a gun on campus. No one was injured. On January 26, in Dearborn, Michigan, shots were fired from a car in a parking lot; no injuries were reported.