Mass school shooting in US: Where, when they have occurred in 2018

Mumbai/ Washington: With the increase in numbers of mass shooting in United States in 2018, there have already been 22 incidents of shooting in schools where many have died and several others were injured. These shootings average out to more than 1 shooting per week.

Santa Fe High School shooting, Texas:

In the latest deadly school shooting to hit United States, 10 people, mostly students were killed when a teenage classmate armed with a shotgun and a revolver opened fire in a Texas high school on May 18, 2018.

The gunman, arrested on murder charges, was identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a 17-year-old junior at Santa Fe High School. He is being held on capital murder charges, meaning he could face the death penalty.

Read: Ten dead in Texas school shooting, student arrested

Governor Greg Abbott said 10 people died and another 10 were wounded in "one of the most heinous attacks that we've ever seen in the history of Texas schools."

Abbott said the gunman apparently carried out the attack with a shotgun and a .38 revolver that were legally owned by his father.

Abbott also added that searches were being conducted at two residences and "explosive devices" had been found, including a "CO2 device" and a Molotov cocktail.

He said journal entries by the gunman suggested he wanted to commit suicide but "he gave himself up."

Abbott said there were no "warning signs" about the suspect, who had no criminal history, although he did post a picture on his Facebook page of a T-shirt with the words "Born to Kill" on it.

The series of the attacks came into the limelight after Florida high school shooting in February 2018 which became an incident that urged Donald Trump to come forward and address the issues regarding the safety of the citizens as well as on the possession of arms.

Florida high school shooting:

A former student armed with an AR-15 rifle opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018, killing at least 17 people, officials said, in a harrowing shooting spree that saw terrified students hiding in closets and under desks as they texted for help.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel identified the gunman as Nikolaus Cruz, 19, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland who loved guns and had been expelled for "disciplinary reasons".

Read: 17 killed in shooting at Florida high school; ex-student arrested

"We have already begun to dissect his websites and things on social media that he was on and some of the things... are very, very disturbing," Israel said. "He had countless magazines, multiple magazines, and at this point, we believe he had one AR-15 rifle," the sheriff added

Israel said he was uncertain about the exact number of people injured, but at least 14 were taken to hospital and two had died there of their wounds.

Nikolas Cruz was arrested about an hour after a shooting rampage and was found with multiple ammunition magazines and one AR-15-style rifle.

Palmdale shooting, California:

A 14-year-old boy used a rifle to shoot a former classmate in the arm on May 11, 2018 at their Highland High school in California and dumped the gun in a field before he was caught in a shopping centre, authorities said.

Los Angeles County deputies detained a 14-year-old former Highland High School student in the shooting of a 15-year-old boy, who was hit in the arm.

The shooting was sparked by a dispute between the two students, said Captain Darren Harris with the sheriff's department.

Read: Palmdale shooting: Chaos after multiple shooting reports, 1 student wounded

"We were very fortunate that the incident wasn't much worse than it was," Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell said at a news conference.

"The outcome was much better than anybody could have anticipated." McDonnell said the 14-year-old suspect had fired multiple gunshots in a courtyard but did not elaborate on whether the teen was aiming for anyone in particular.

The teen was caught about an hour later at a shopping centre after the boy called his father to say he fired his gun in the air and was headed to a grocery store near campus, McDonnell said.

He said the teen's father called a family friend who's an off-duty police officer and told him where the boy was.

The off-duty officer, who works for Los Angeles police, then detained the teen without incident. He was being held on suspicion of attempted murder.

It's unclear where he got the rifle.

Great Mills, Maryland shooting:

A 17-year-old male student shot two other students at Great Mills High School in Maryland on March 20, 2018 morning before a school resource officer engaged him and stopped the threat, authorities said.

The incident began in a school hallway at 7:55 am, just before classes started. Authorities say Austin Wyatt Rollins, armed with a handgun, shot a female and a male student. The shooter had a prior relationship with the female student, St. Mary's County Sheriff Tim Cameron said.

Read: US: Shootings at two Maryland shopping centres kill 1, wound 3

School resource officer Blaine Gaskill responded to the scene in less than a minute, the sheriff said.

Gaskill fired a round at the shooter, and the shooter fired a round simultaneously, Cameron said.

Georgia shooting:

In the latest shooting post Texas incident, one person was killed and two others wounded in a shooting at a high school graduation ceremony in Clayton County of the United States' southeastern province Georgia on May 18, 2018 night.

The incident took place on the campus of Mount Zion High School.

According to the Clayton County Fire and Emergency Services, one adult female was killed after being shot multiple times.

According to the police, graduation ceremony was over when the shooting happened. An investigation is underway.

 

President Donald Trump, post the Florida school shooting, said he believes armed teachers would deter school shootings and better protect students when they happen.

Trump vowed to address mental health issues after the shooting, but his administration’s recommendations for reforms included no concrete details, other than reviewing health and education privacy laws.

Trump administration proposed, such as rising the minimum age for buying guns to 21 from 18, or requiring background checks for guns bought at gun shows or on the internet.

With shooting numbers rising rampantly, the question still remains that is United States administration able to control the arms possession and when will the new laws be implemented to control the deaths and injuries of innocent people? Are we going to face any more shooting and if yes, then tomorrow which school is it going to be?