It's a scary statistic, but North Dakota is one of only 11 states nationwide that have not had a school shooting since Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. 

There was, however, a school shooting in southeastern North Dakota just a couple months before Sandy Hook. On October 11, 2012 a freshman at Fairmount High School shot himself in the face with a handgun in front of his classroom. Luckily the student survived and no one else was hurt.

Even though there hasn't been a shooting in North Dakota since 2012, that doesn't mean that schools are not taking necessary steps to prevent shootings in the future. Schools across the state are making sure teachers and administrators are educating themselves and students. Making time to help students struggling with mental health issues or other problems is crucial. According to Fargo Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Schatz, social media can make this difficult.

Social media makes that much more challenging. A lot of times things are going on outside of the school between kids and then that gets brought into the school.

Everytown for Gun Control has counted 142 shootings at schools (including colleges and K-12) since the Sandy Hook massacre. Everytown clarifies that this does not mean that there were necessarily deaths or even injuries, but the situation fit the definition of a 'school shooting.' This definition includes all incidents where a gun was fired on campus or school grounds.

The other states who have gone without a school shooting since Sandy Hook are:

  • West Virginia
  • Alaska
  • Hawaii
  • Wyoming
  • New York
  • New Jersey
  • Connecticut
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont
  • New Hampshire

Georgia currently has the most school shootings with a frightening number of 16. There have been two school shootings in South Dakota which has the most on a population base.

According to CNN, the 16-year-old South Dakotan accused of attempting to shoot his principal on September 30 will be tried as an adult on a charge of first-degree attempted murder. Minnesota has also experienced three school shootings this year alone.

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