School shootings in U.S. rise to highest number in 20 years: report

A candle is lit during a vigil to mourn for victims of a school mass shooting at Town Square in Uvalde, Texas, the United States, May 29, 2022. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

A total of 93 school shootings with casualties occurred at public and private elementary and secondary schools during last school year, including 43 school shootings with deaths and 50 school shootings with injuries only, according to a report.

LOS ANGELES, June 28 (Xinhua) -- School shootings in the 2020-21 school year rose to the highest number in 20 years, said a new report released on Tuesday.

A total of 93 school shootings with casualties occurred at public and private elementary and secondary schools during last school year, including 43 school shootings with deaths and 50 school shootings with injuries only, according to the 31-page report published by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which is located within the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences.

In addition, there were 53 reported school shootings with no casualties during the school year.

There were only 23 school shootings with casualties during the 2000-01 school year.

"Although the rate of nonfatal violent victimization at school for 12- to 18-year-olds was lower in 2019 than in 2009, there were more school shootings with casualties in 2021 than in any other year since data collection began in the early 2000's, increasing from 11 in 2009 to 93 in 2021," said NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr in a news release.

People mourn for victims of a school mass shooting at Town Square in Uvalde, Texas, the United States, May 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

"While the lasting impact of these crime and safety issues cannot be measured in statistics alone, these data are valuable to the efforts of our policymakers, school officials, and community members to identify and implement preventive and responsive measures," she added.

The latest report comes weeks after the mass school shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which left 19 children and two adults dead on May 24. The school shooting was just one of the recent high-profile shootings in the country. More than 21,500 people have died due to gun violence across the United States so far this year, according to the latest data from Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit organization that tracks gun-related violence in the country.