For a long time, the public has perceived schools as common targets for mass shootings. An analysis conducted by the United States Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) confirms that perception.

Schools, or “educational institutions” were the third most common mass shooting site and all levels of education were impacted:

“Of the 13 that took place at educational institutions, 3 occurred at elementary schools, 7 at high schools, and 3 at universities.”

Businesses were the most common target for mass shootings.

The analysis also highlights a common trend among school shooters to extensively research previous mass attacks:

“…found that half of K-12 school attackers from 2008 to 2017 had displayed an unusual or concerning interest in violent topics, including the Columbine High School shooting and Nazism. Public safety professionals should recognize an unusual interest in violent topics as worthy of concern, especially an interest in previous mass attackers.”

Read the full analysis here.