In addition to discovering that South Carolina had the most school shots in 2021 in 47 years, we found that the Tanglewood event is only the second time in the history of the state that a school shooter was under 13 years old. In about 25 percent of cases the shooter was 13 to 17 years old and about 51 percent had a shooter 18 years and older. There was no information in the database about the ages of the shooters in the other cases. We also found that it was only the second time in state history that a shooting occurred inside a school and not in a parking lot, school bus or other location. Over 75 percent of the shootings were unplanned and about 7 percent were pre-scheduled. No details were given for the other cases. Of the 43 school shootings in South Carolina from 1974 to 2021, eight were in elementary schools, 31 in high schools, one in K-8 and one in K-12. The Homeland Security database had no information on the other two shootings. Nearly 40 percent of the shootings came from an escalation of a conflict. The other main causes were: accidental shooting, bullying, domestic violence with the target victim or suicide or suicide attempt.
A pistol was the weapon used in about 75 percent of cases. The investigation also found that in about 42 percent of cases the perpetrator was arrested after fleeing the scene. In 20 percent of the shootings, the perpetrator fled. The perpetrator died of suicide in four of the 43 cases and was injured in three of the cases.
In 86 percent of the cases, the shooter was a man. The perpetrator was a woman in less than 5 percent of cases and the gender was unknown in the other cases.
More coverage
To read more in-depth stories from The Post and Courier’s Education Lab, go to postandcourier.com/education-lab. The Center for Homeland Security’s K-12 school shooting database examines more than 1,500 shots from 1970 to date. Document when a gun is fired or fired or when a bullet hits school property for any reason, regardless of the number of victims, the time of day or the day of the week. More information about the database can be found here:
Donate to our Research Fund to support such journalism
The public service and our investigative reporting are among the most important work we do. It is also the most expensive reportage we do. We can not do it without your support. Donate now Follow Hillary Flynn on Twitter @HillarySuzane.
