School Deaths: 2001-2002

SCHOOL-RELATED DEATHS, SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, & SCHOOL VIOLENCE INCIDENTS

2001-2002 School Year Incidents
Identified by National School Safety and Security Services, Inc.*
Cleveland, Ohio

Note: This page and the work represented herein is copy-protected and reflects the proprietary in-house research conducted by National School Safety and Security Services.  It may not be reproduced or otherwise used in any form without the advanced written permission of Kenneth S. Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services.

* School-related deaths, school shootings, and school crisis incidents identified through print and electronic news sources nationwide by Kenneth S. Trump, President, National School Safety and Security Services, Inc. (Cleveland, Ohio). This is not presented as an exhaustive list or as a scientific study.  Additional incidents may be added pending review of additional items on file.

For purposes of this listing, the 2001-2002 school year is considered to be from August 1, 2001, through July 31, 2002. In addition to school-related violent deaths, this page provides a sample of school shootings that did not result in death, a sample of bomb and bomb threat-related incidents, and a sample of other incidents of school-related crime, violence, and crisis situations.

For purposes of this monitoring report, school-related violent deaths are homicides, suicides, or other violent, non-accidental deaths in the United States in which a fatal injury occurs:

1)  inside a school, on school property, on or immediately around (and associated with) a school bus, or in the immediate area (and associated with) a K-12 elementary or secondary public, private, or parochial school;

2) on the way to or from a school for a school session;

3) while attending, or on the way to or from, a school-sponsored event;

4)  as a clear result of school-related incidents/conflicts, functions, activities, regardless of whether on or off actual school property;

Identified School-Related Violent Deaths:  2001-2002 School Year

Total Deaths:  17

Breakdown by Type:

  • Shooting: 5
  • Suicides: 3
  • Murder-Suicide: 6
  • Fight: 1
  • Stabbing: 1
  • Other: 1

August 13, 2001:  Dallas, TX
A 26-year-old male shot and killed his 18-year-old ex-wife and her two children, ages 6 and 18 months, in a car outside of an elementary school around 6:50pm.  A 13-year-old brother of the woman was in the vehicle but escaped  The man then shot himself and died in a hospital, according to police.

September 13, 2001:  Los Angeles, CA
A 16-year-old male high school student was shot to death near his high school as he was walking home from the school after dismissal.  The student died at the scene. A male passenger got out of a car that pulled up to the victim and his friends, according to reports, asking him what gang they were from and then shooting him.

October 12, 2001:  Salt Lake City, UT
A 17-year-old male high school student committed suicide by shooting himself with a handgun in a school hallway.

October 18, 2001:  Bradenton, FL
A 16-year-old high school student was allegedly beaten to death by a fellow 17-year-old male student in an after-school fight behind a food store near the school.  The fight reportedly was arranged during a fifth period class and stemmed from harassment over the victim’s conduct during a recent party in which the victim reportedly stripped naked.  According to reports, the victim was attempting to join a school-chartered club consisting largely of athletes and other popular students.  The victim died from injuries sustained after his heat was beaten against the concrete ground.

November 7, 2001:  Brookline, MA
A 16-year-old male 10th-grade charter school student, who was riding the subway home from his school at around 6:45pm, was shot in the chest and died from an attempted robbery by two 19-year-old suspects.

November 12, 2001:  Caro, Michigan
A 17-year-old male alternative school student armed with a .22-caliber rifle, a 20-guage shotgun, and a package of gunpowder took a teacher and 15-year-old female classmate hostage, shot at the principal, and then shot himself in the head after releasing his hostages.  The suspect, who died, reportedly was despondent after having broken up with his girlfriend two days earlier.  The hostages were released after being held over a period of three hours, at which time the suspect shot himself as police tactical officers were preparing to enter the building.

November 17, 2001:  Everett, WA
A 15-year-old male high school sophomore was found unconscious and beaten on Saturday on a middle school football field.  The male died the next evening while in the hospital.  Police were seeking two teens who were seen walking with the victim toward the school on the afternoon he was found unconscious.

December 5, 2001:  Springfield, MA
A 17-year-old male alternative high school student was arrested for stabbing a 51-year-old counselor five to six times in the stomach and chest during an argument in a classroom.  The suspect fled from the building and was arrested about a half-mile from the school, according to the county prosecutor. The knife was found behind the school.  Eight or nine other students and a teacher were in the classroom at the time according to the school’s superintendent.

December 11, 2001:  Woodbridge, VA
A private security guard found the body of a 24-year-old male who was shot to death in his vehicle in a middle school parking lot shortly before 11pm. Police suspect that the shooting was drug-related.

December 13, 2001: Sun Valley, CA
A 15-year-old male high school student was shot and killed as he walked home with friends through an alley near his high school at 11:35am.  Police were investigating whether the shooting was gang-related.  They had no suspects.

January 30, 2002: Zanesville, OH
A 59-year-old male school maintenance worker shot a female school bus driver three times in the head and back as she was preparing to start her route and then fatally shot himself.  The female driver, age 41, later died.

February 15, 2002:  New Orleans, LA
A 46-year-old Orleans Parish school system custodian shot himself with a single gunshot to the head, according to police, as detectives were headed to his come to arrest him on allegations of stealing more then $20,000 in paychecks that were still being issued by the district to a former employee. An investigation started when the former employee received a tax withholding form for the period and informed the school system. Police stated that they believed he killed himself because of the pending charges.

February 20, 2002:  Milwaukee, WI
A 16-year-old male high school student was shot to death in the parking lot of another high school around 8:45pm following a basketball game between two rival city high school teams.  A male who identified himself as the victim’s uncle stated that he was shot in the head.  The shooting occurred during a brawl that involved approximately 100 people, according to reports.

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Sample of Reported
School-Related Shootings Not Resulting in Deaths

A sample of school-related shootings occurring nationwide in the 2001-2002 school year not resulting in death is listed below.  It should be noted that this is only a sample and and is not intended to include all of the many incidents involving firearms confiscated but not used, and other weapons possession or use that occur in U.S. schools.  List includes individuals shot but not killed and firearms discharged in schools, on school campuses and buses, at school-sponsored events, to and from school involving students, and as a clear result of school-related incidents/conflicts.

September 4, 2001:  Plant City, FL
A 6-year-old mentally handicapped first-grader accidentally fired a .22-caliber gun when he stuffed his hand into his right pants pocket to get some change as he was standing behind his desk waiting to go to physical education class.  Police were investigating where the boy got the gun.

September 5, 2001:  Compton, CA
Gunfire from a vehicle near a high school sent a pickup truck with five people, two of them students, crashing into a wrought-iron gate.  Two individuals in the car suffered superficial gunshot wounds and a 17-year-old student leaving the school at the time of the incident suffered a broken leg according to reports.

September 7, 2001:  Charlotte, NC
Four suspects were arrested for weapons-related offenses after gunfire erupted around 9:45p.m. as a crowd of over 2,000 left a high school football game.  Two people were injured and a 15-year-old suffered a broken ankle when a car hit him as he ran from the gunfire.  Additional security measures were subsequently planned for future games.

September 12, 2001:  Covington, KY
A 30-year-old woman was arrested and a .380 caliber semi-automatic gun was confiscated after an adult female was shot in the neck outside of an elementary school as school was dismissing.  When the victim arrived at the school, the suspect reportedly walked from across the street and fired.  A news report included a statement from a witness who said the two had prior conflicts.  Students were taken back inside the school and held in the cafeteria until the scene was secured.

September 20, 2001:  Baltimore, MD
A 17-year-old male 11th-grader was shot at a doorway in the back of the school by a suspect who allegedly grabbed him by the collar and shot him in the stomach.  The victim ran and was shot again in the buttocks.  School officials said the victim was off school grounds without permission before the shooting occurred.

October 26, 2001:  Redondo Beach, CA
A 16-year-old male high school student was shot in his left side, piercing a lung before exiting his body, when a friend’s handgun accidentally fired as the backpack tumbled off a ledge outside the school around 10am in the morning.

October 26, 2001:  Saginaw, MI
A 17-year-old male charter school student was charged after another 17-year-old male student was shot in his left calf when a gun in the other student’s coat pocket discharged as students were tossing around the coat in the classroom.

November 16, 2001:  Manteca, CA
Two teens, ages 16 and 17, were shot in what police suspected as a possible gang-related incident when a group of 10 to 20 males showed up on high school grounds at 6pm in the evening.  One student was shot in the arm and chest, and the other was shot in the back.

November 27, 2001:  Columbia, SC
A 15-year-old male high school student was arrested after a .380-caliber handgun carried in his book bag fired when he accidentally dropped his bag.  The student reportedly ran away and put the gun in the trunk of another student’s vehicle, but school officials and the school resource officer located the students moments later.  No one was injured and the student was charged.

November 29, 2001:  Philadelphia, PA
A 16-year-old drop-out was wounded after shots were fired in a dispute among teenagers behind a high school around 3:30pm after school had been dismissed.  Police did not believe that individuals involved were students and the area is reportedly a known drug activity area.

November 30, 2001:  Friendswood, TX
A junior high school campus was locked down for three hours after a teacher reported that a bullet was fired into a classroom wall, striking a plastic cup and then a teacher’s desk. At the time of the incident, 20 students were in the class, but nobody was injured and many reported not hearing any gunshots.  The slug was fired from a .357-caliber gun.  An investigation later resulted in the indictment of the teacher for allegedly bringing a gun to the school and firing it earlier in the day while the class was empty.

December 13, 2001: Tampa, FL
A 20-year-old female university student was carjacked in front of her apartment and driven to a deserted elementary school where she was shot three times and left to die.  The victim survived after suffering a fractured jaw, bruised brain, and bullet lodged in her esophagus that had been swallowed. One of the suspects, a 17-year-old, was arrested in late December.

January 15, 2002:  New York City (Manhattan), New York
Two students, ages 17 and 18, were shot in a fourth-floor hallway of a high school.  One student was shot in the back and the other in the buttocks, and both were hospitalized in serious condition.  A .380-caliber handgun was found on the school’s fifth floor and the incident may have resulted from a dispute concerning a girl, according to police. No suspects were identified.

February 6, 2002:  Gardena, CA
Two high school students, ages 16 and 19, were wounded during a robbery attempt outside their high school about 15 minutes prior to dismissal.  The shooting occurred in an outdoor area near a classroom when one of three suspects demanded money from the 19-year-old student, according to police.

February 7, 2002: Chicago, IL
Three 16-year-old high school students were wounded in a shooting in front of a Chicago high school at dismissal, according to police.  One female victim was a student at the school where the shooting two place and the two other victims, who were males, were students from a nearby high school.  Police suspect that the incident was gang-related.

June 21, 2002:  Indiana, PA
A 39-year-old male was charged with two counts of attempted homicide after entering an administrative office of a high school and allegedly shooting a 48-year-old secretary in the leg.  The suspect was reportedly demanding to see the superintendent, who was not in the building at the time.  The suspect was reported to be the husband of a former school district teacher.

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Sample of Bombs, Bomb Threats, and Explosive Incidents

The following is a sample of reported school-related bomb, bomb threats, and explosive incidents.  This is only a sample and is not intended to represent a complete listing of incidents that occur in U.S. schools.

August 24, 2001:  Lake Alfred, FL
A 13-year-old student was arrested for making a homemade bomb with water and chemicals inside a plastic soda bottle, which was exploded in an agricultural and livestock area of the school, according to police.  The school resource officer was notified by another student and the officer, along with the principal, investigated.  A second bottle was found inside a corral where a calf is kept, according to reports.  The student was charged with one count of throwing a destructive device to cause harm.

August 28, 2001:  Dalton, GA
Two high school freshmen, ages 14 and 16, were arrested and charged with felony weapons charges for allegedly tossing a homemade bomb into a plastic garbage can near a school exit door around 1:00pm in the afternoon while classes were underway.  No one was hurt according to reports.  A small plastic bottle containing acid and other chemicals was reportedly found at the scene.

September 4, 2001:  Williamson, W.Va.
A high school and middle school were evacuated before classes began after the high school’s band director found a bomb device was found outside of the band room’s outside back door.  The device was made of three flares with shortened fuses, leading police to believe that the flares had been removed and substituted with explosives.  The device had a digital timer and although the bomb device could not explode, police believed it could start a fire.

September 5, 2001:  Great Mills, MD
An eight-inch pipe bomb was found by a teacher in a trash can near an entrance to a high school around 2:20p.m., just minutes after school dismissed for the day.  The homemade device was made of metal pipe and was defused by bomb squad technicians after students in after-school activities were evacuated.  According to reports, the teacher found the device, brought the bomb into the school, and showed it to a school resource officer (county deputy).

September 12, 2001:  Haines City, FL
Middle school students and staff were evacuated for more than hour after an eighth-grade male student told a school resource officer that another boy approached him on the school track, displayed a small box with a switch on it, and told him that he was going to blow up the school.

October 30, 2001:  Petersburg, VA
Two high school students, both 15-years-old, were charged with felonies in separate bomb threat incidents during the week of October 22, 2001.  On October 26, school resource officers observed one of the males acting suspiciously and sized a cell phone when the student took it out at lunch.  Police said the phone is believed to have been one used in making the four threats.  The other student was accused in a separate incident of making an e-mail that was sent to students claiming that the high school was going to blow up on October 25th or 26th.

October 29, 2001:  Phoenix, AZ
A Phoenix elementary school was locked down after a homemade explosive and a used pipe bomb were found in a park next door to the school.  The lockdown lasted for about two hours as a police bomb squad disposed of an explosive made out of gunpowder and household materials, according to reports.  The items were found in a park a few hundred yards from the school playground.

October 31, 2001:  Charlotte, NC
Students were dismissed early at a high school after a suspicious package, a box with tape around it and wires protruding from it, was found in a restroom. The device was checked by police and turned out to be a hoax. Students were dismissed early after having been held at a nearby church for two to three hours.

November 1, 2001:  Watsonville, CA
Two men, ages 31 and 55, were arrested after a series of bomb threats that forced the evacuation of two schools on October 30-31, 2001.  Three pipe bombs were found at an elementary school over the two-day period.  Bomb threats also were made elsewhere in the community.  All of the bombs were made of galvanized pipes roughly six inches long, according to police.  One of the bombs at the elementary school reportedly had been disposed of by a custodian who thought it was construction debris and the others were exploded by the sheriff’s bomb squad.

December 12, 2001:  Clearbrook, MN
A 30-year-old female high school teacher and a 16-year-old female student were charged with aiding and abetting terrorist threats after police received a tip from students that the two were involved in making a bomb threat to the school.  According to the county attorney, the teacher allegedly wrote the threat on a school computer, gave it to the student, and the student to it to a restroom.  The student returned to the restroom, retrieved the note, and then took it to the the teacher, who then took it to the principal and reported it as a legitimate bomb threat.  The school was evacuated and students were taken to a nearby church while police and fire officials searched the school.

December 13, 2001:  Casper, WY
A 15-year-old male junior high school student was banned from school buses, placed in an alternative school, and charged in juvenile court after a bus assistant overheard him tell a friend that his backpack contained explosives. Bomb technicians were called and found no explosives in the backpack or on the bus.

December 21, 2001:  Craig, CO
Three high school males, aged 15 to 17, were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and terrorist training activities in connection with allegedly conspiring to detonate explosives at school and a courthouse.  The terrorist training activities charge is reportedly for a person who demonstrates or teaches someone how to use weapons to cause injury or death.

January 9, 2002:  Rosenberg, TX
A 13-year-old male seventh-grader was arrested for planning to blow up his junior high school, according to police.  Police reportedly found five small homemade bombs and bomb-making material at his home.  He was arrested after other students reported that he was bragging about having bombs at his house.

January 10, 2002: Kiowa, Colorado
A high school science teacher was suspended and a 17-year-old student faced possible criminal charges in connection with a bomb that the student brought to his high school’s science fair.  According to the district attorney’s office, while the device was incapable of exploding, the student had the necessary ingredients to make a live bomb and instructions on how to use them.  The teacher allegedly had supervised the project and had given at least one student an assignment “specifically about bombs” according to reports.

January 11, 2002:  Fort Worth, TX
Three female high school students, two age 15 and one age 16, were suspended and faced potential charges in connection with a string of bomb threats that temporarily forced the lockdown of seven Fort Worth schools.

February 14, 2002:  Warren, OH
A male high school student was arrested after being stopped by the principal and assistant principal who found two sticks of dynamite and blasting caps in his coat.  His father tipped off police that he may have had a gun and, although no guns were found, the student resisted school officials who stopped him and found the dynamite.

February 20, 2002:  Corpus Christi, TX
A 15-year-old male high school student was arrested for calling in a bomb threat to his own school from a pay phone around 3pm.  The suspect had been observed within the sight of the high school’s security cameras at the time the threat was made and when confronted, he ran, as did three other males.

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Sample of Other Reported
School Crime, Violence, and Crisis Incidents in 2001-2002

August 16, 2001:  Nashville, TN
A 17-year-old high school student was hospitalized with facial cuts and bruises on his head after an altercation in his high school parking lot after school.  The victim was found by the school resource officer, who had been told by another student of the attack, and the officer was able to assist the student into the building where he received medical attention until the ambulance arrived. The victim spent a week in the neurological intensive care unit at the hospital before being released, according to reports. The suspect was a student from an alternative school.

August 17, 2001:  Deltona, FL
An 11-year-old middle school student was arrested after threatening classmates with a pellet gun at their bus stop, according to police.  The sixth-grader targeted two male students, ages 11 and 12, after allegedly being harassed and teased by them.  The students on the bus reported the incident to their school resource officer and the boy was arrested at his home.

August 20, 2001:  Los Angeles, CA
A 19-year-old male was arrested on August 22nd in connection with the raping and robbing of two teachers in an elementary school kindergarten room as they prepared for the opening of the school year.  Students were not in school on the day of the attack.

August 20, 2001:  New Orleans, LA
A 17-year-old female high school student was arrested for slapping a teacher who was escorting the student to the back of the lunch line.

August 22, 2001:  North Charleston, SC
Two students were arrested and a third student was at large in connection with weapon and drug charges at a high school.  A shotgun and loaded pistol were found after school resource officers stopped the students in a rental car in the high school parking lot, smelled marijuana, and searched the car.

August 23, 2001:  Nashville, TN
An 18-year-old high school senior was arrested and charged for bringing a fully loaded semiautomatic pistol, a .44 caliber Desert Eagle magnum, to school along with 10 grams of marijuana and a box of ammunition for another caliber firearm.  The student was apprehended by school resource officers are students reported to them that a gun was seen in the senior’s car in the school parking lot.

August 24, 2001:  Port St. Lucie, FL
Two 13-year-old middle school students were arrested after putting a snake in the book bag of a classmate who panicked and threw it at the feet of his school bus driver, almost causing a crash.

August 24, 2001:  Greensboro, NC
A 42-year-old male English teacher broke his leg in two places while trying to break up two middle school students fighting in the hallway outside of his classroom.  The teacher underwent surgery and will reportedly miss at least one week of work and his leg will be in a case for six weeks, with a full recovery expected in six months.  Both students, ages 15 and 16, were expected to be charged for fighting and assault on the school official.

August 27, 2001:  Greensboro, NC
A 24-year-old female high school teacher was hit in the face while trying to assist another teacher break up a fight between two girls, ages 14 and 16.  The incident happened outside the main school building around 7:45a.m., 15 minutes before school starts, according to reports.

August 27, 2001:  Milwaukee, WI
A 49-year-old elementary school teacher was allegedly attacked by a male identified as her husband after he reportedly rammed her car as she drove away from the school parking lot at the end of the school day.  The school’s principal, maintenance workers, and bystanders assisted the woman. The attacker was arrested.  News report indicated that the incident was an apparent domestic dispute, although this was not confirmed, as a witness stated that the male made comments about his check and divorce papers.

August 28, 2001:  Sarasota, FL
A 17-year-old student was charged with aggravated battery after school officials said he was ramming his car into a school security guard who was pursuing him for allegedly pushing two teachers who tried to take away his cellular phone that was prohibited from having in school.  A private investigator who witnessed the incident intervened and the teen stopped after the investigator pulled his firearm.

August 30, 2001:  Palm Beach, FL
A 16-year-old ninth-grader was slashed in the abdomen with a box cutter by another 16-year-old ninth-grader during a fight in a school courtyard about 10 minutes before the high school’s dismissal.  The victim was treated and released at the hospital.

September 4, 2001:  Lowell, IN
A high school and an elementary school went into a lockdown after police notified them of a hostage situation at a nearby bank.  A gunman with a sawed-off shotgun took hostages and police notified the schools of the activity in the area.

September 4, 2001:  Vero Beach, FL
A 17-year-old female high school student was arrested for possession of a weapon on school grounds after being found with a box cutter with a large razor blade after a violent altercation with another student, according to the school resource officer.

September 4, 2001:  San Jose, CA
Two 18-year-old male high school students were stabbed in a high school parking lot during a suspected gang-related fight involving six males at the end of the school day.  The males suffered stab wounds to the stomach.

September 4, 2001:  Punta Gorda, FL
A 13-year-old male high school student was arrested for bringing a knife to school to allegedly protect himself from bullies.  The student had shown the knife to a middle school student, who reported to his school resource officer, who in turn followed up with high school officials.  The two-bladed butterfly knife was found in the boy’s backpack.

September 5, 2001:  Logansport, LA
Two 10-year-old elementary students were arrested for having a loaded .25 caliber gun on campus two times in a two-week period.  School resource officers investigated the report and located the gun at a home of one of the students.

September 5, 2001:  Atlantic Beach, FL
Police arrested a 17-year-old vocational school student for possession of a .380 semiautomatic gun at school.  The student became involved in a struggle with a teacher, who asked to see what the student had wrapped in T-shirt, which the student went to retrieve after returning to the school from a fishing trip with the teacher and other students.  The student fled and the teacher retained the gun.  School officials searched the student’s locker and found a magazine clip for the gun containing six bullets.  The student was later arrested by police.  He had reportedly been arrested three times in the prior year and a half on drug and burglary charges.

September 6, 2001:  Gaffney, SC
Three students and two teachers were injured in an alleged gang-related fight over a girl that lasted between five and ten minutes outside of a high school classroom.  Two students, ages 17 and 18, reported waited outside a classroom for another student, age 15.  The 15-year-old received several cuts to the head, while two teachers and two other students also received minor injuries.

September 10, 2001:  Minneapolis, MN
A 14-year-old male student football player and a 45-year-old male coach were stabbed at a south Minneapolis high school when a fight broke out after football practice.  The student was reportedly stabbed in the chest and the coach was stabbed in the back as he tried to break up the fight, according to reports.  The freshman football player was in serious condition at a county hospital and the coach was in stable condition that evening.  Police said investigators believe that conflict stemmed from differences between African-American and Somali students. The school’s assistant principal reported that security guards had been on duty in previous years, but due to budget cuts, coaches and teachers had taken over security duties.

September 14, 2001:  Arabi, Louisiana
A 17-year-old alternative school student was arrested after a scuffle with a school resource officer.  According to reports, the student refused to sit down, made a threatening move, and began wrestling with resource officer who was forced to use pepper spray to subdue the male.  The student was reportedly booked for assault, resisting arrest, and disturbing the peace.

September 17, 2001:  Portland, OR
A 16-year-old male high school student was arrested by school police for possession of a .380 caliber semiautomatic gun after a teacher overheard the student tell another student in Spanish that he was going to fight someone, after which he pulled a gun from his waistband and put it in his locker.  The teacher informed a campus monitor and they escorted the student to the vice principal, who called school police.  School police found the gun, which was loaded with five rounds of ammunition, in the locker.

September 25, 2001:  Memphis, TN
A 14-year-old girl allegedly stabbed a 12-year-old male middle school student in the chest with a pencil following a fight between the 12-year-old male and another student, who is the girl’s cousin.  The stabbing victim underwent surgery and was in serious condition in intensive care according to reports.

September 25, 2001:  Albuquerque, NM
A 10-year old fifth-grade male student was found with a loaded .380 caliber semi-automatic gun after fellow students reported to a teacher that the boy had a gun in school.  The student was suspended and placed in the county detention center.  The gun reportedly had a full clip and a round in the chamber according to school police.

September 26, 2001:  Indianapolis, IN
A 15-year-old eighth-grade male middle school student was arrested for possessing a loaded .25 caliber gun to school concealed in his sock.  Earlier in September, two elementary school brothers were also arrested in an unrelated incident after bringing a loaded .25 caliber gun to school in a book bag of an older sibling.

September 26, 2001:  Boston, MA
A Boston school police officer was cut on the hand as he and another office struggled to take away a knife from an 18-year-old at a high school.  The suspect was found hiding around a corner with a bandanna across his face and a knife concealed in the sleeve of his jacket, according to reports.  A 14-year-old female student was also reportedly arrested for letting the suspect into the school.

September 26, 2001:  Chattanooga, TN
A 47-year-old male walked into a middle school classroom where his 41-year-old wife was teaching and repeatedly struck her in the head and hands with a claw hammer as students went to get help, according to police.  The school went into a lockdown and crisis counseling was later provided.  The school’s resource officer was in court at the time of the incident.  The incident reportedly stemmed from a domestic dispute between the teacher, who sought a court protection order two days earlier, and her husband.

September 26, 2001:  Tampa, FL
A 16-year-old high school student was arrested by the school resource officer after he was found with a 6-inch knife.

September 27, 2001:  Dixon, CA
A 50-year-old male from England was arrested after being found in the girls’ restroom of a high school.  The male reportedly had been following female students around campus earlier offering to take their pictures.

September 28, 2001:  Lexington, KY
A 15-year-old male student was stabbed in the chest by another 15-year-old male student at a high school just outside the school doors.  The victim was in serious but stable condition later that day.

October 2, 2001:  Buffalo, NY
Twelve female students were taken to the hospital after a substance believed to be pepper spray was allegedly sprayed by a 15-year-old female sophomore following an altercation involving girls ranging in age from 13 to 15, according to reports.

October 2, 2001:  Richardson, TX
Four junior high school students reported swallowed eight to 12 capsules, overdosing on over-the-counter cough/cold/congestion medicine, nicknamed triple C, according to reports.  The school’s resource officer and staff observed the students as lethargic, unresponsive, and having very dilated pupils.

October 4, 2001:  Kansas City, MO
Eight Southwest Charter School students were arrested after four of them allegedly assaulted an off-duty police officer working at the school and others created a disturbance.

October 10, 2001:  Chesapeake, VA
A 16-year-old male junior was arrested in connection with an incident in which six people were quarantined following a suspicious envelope containing white powder being found in a high school hallway.  The incident, determined to be a hoax, followed national incidents of anthrax scares across the nation.  The principal, a school nurse, a student, the school resource officer, and two police evidence technicians were quarantined during the time that the substance was being tested.

October 11, 2001:  Detroit, MI
A mercury spill at a high school forced school officials to close the school and test more than 1,400 students and staff for contamination.  Although it was unclear whether the spill was deliberate, according to reports, there allegedly was no mercury in the building prior to the incident, so it must have been brought into the school.  37 people had mercury on their shoes and clothing after the spill was discovered in the science wing of the school.

October 11, 2001:  St. Augustine, FL
Approximately 18 employees and two students at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind were decontaminated after a suspicious envelope containing a white powder substance was delivered to the student bank.  The building was sealed pending completion of lab tests.

October 12, 2001:  New Orleans, LA
A man who was shot several blocks from an elementary school ran into the school seeking refuge, according to reports.  Police surrounded the school and ambulance personnel assisted the injured male. No students reportedly saw the male.

October 12, 2001:  Goshen, IN
Two males, both age 18, were charged for severely beating a female high school teacher in the school parking lot.  The teacher was struck by one male whose fist was closed around the head of a hammer, leaving the teacher with two skull fractures, a crushed eye cavity and a crushed sinus cavity.  The males were reportedly planning to steal her car.

October 15, 2001:  Lexington, KY
A middle school was evacuated and 12 people, including the school’s principal, were quarantined, decontaminated, and sent to the hospital for tests after an envelope containing a white powdery substance was opened in an office.  The envelope did not have a return address or postmark according to reports.

October 15, 2001:  Indianapolis, IN
Approximately 175 people were quarantined inside a non-public school after a powder residue was found beneath gym bleachers.  No student had touched it or inhaled it, according to reports, and it was being tested.  In another Indiana county, police were called to an elementary school where a suspicious substance, later thought to be flour, was found among packages being delivered to the school. And, in yet another Indiana county, workers at two preschools reported finding a white powdery substance while opening deliveries of canned goods from the same company involved in the other incident noted above.

October 15, 2001:  Seattle, WA
A high school went into lockdown after a student was robbed at gunpoint on the third floor of the school by an unidentified suspect.  The suspect was not immediately located and no shots were fired, according to reports.

October 16, 2001:  Palm Coast, FL
A 17-year-old male student was arrested and charged with planting a hoax of a destructive device after allegedly admitting that he spread white powder on a teacher’s desk to force an evacuation of the school due to an anthrax scare.

October 15-17, 2001:  Plano, TX
HAZMAT officials responded to one middle school and two elementary schools after campus officials reported unknown substances on school grounds.  On October 15th, the substance in an elementary school workroom was discovered to be waste from a tissue box.  On October 16th, the substance in a middle school bathroom was determined to be scouring powder.  On October 17th, debris from a ceiling tile was found in a fourth-grade elementary classroom.

October 17, 2001:  Deltona, FL
An eighth-grade middle school student was arrested after allegedly scattering a powdered drink mix around his school in a suspected anthrax hoax.  A hazardous materials team responded to the school after students reported seeing a white powder on the floor of a boys’ bathroom and on a water fountain, causing an evacuation of students.

October 17, 2001:  South Berwick, ME
A 15-year-old male was charged with elevated aggravated assault for allegedly firing a .22 caliber handgun, which was confiscated along with approximately 100 bullets from the male outside of a high school, in connection with the gun allegedly being fired toward four juveniles off school grounds the day before the arrest.  Police credited the school students and the school resource officer for their excellent relationship that contributed to the suspect being quickly identified and apprehended.

October 18, 2001:  Vineland, NJ
A 6-year-old male student was charged with aggravated assault after allegedly injuring a 7-year-old classmate with a kitchen knife that the 6-year-old threw at the victim following a verbal dispute.

October 19, 2001:  American Canyon, CA
A 13-year-old seventh-grade middle school male student was arrested after allegedly attempting to pass an envelope to a school secretary and asking her to deliver it to his teacher.  The secretary was suspicious of the envelope, opened it, and found white power inside.  The student, who had reportedly written a threatening comment to the teacher on a class assignment several weeks prior, later told a deputy that the powder was sugar.

October 19, 2001:  Mobile, AL
An 11-year-old female middle school student was arrested for terrorist threats after officers discovered a container filled with white power following her telling other students she had a container of anthrax.

October 19, 2001:  Oxon Hill, MD
A 16-year-old high school student was in critical condition after being stabbed in the chest several times during a fight at 10:30am inside the school.

October 23, 2001:  Petersburg, VA
A 15-year-old eighth-grade male student, who refused to take off his headphones and turn off the CD player in his jacket, stabbed his first-year female high school teacher several times with a pocketknife.  The male was arrested.

October 23, 2001:  Inverness, FL
A 15-year-old male student was arrested after allegedly typing, “Anthrax is here and in this school, bye now,” during a computer class and printed out the message.  Another student reported it to the teacher, who in turn notified the principal.  The principal contacted a school resource officer and the student was arrested after the student initially claimed he was referring to a musical group named Anthrax.

October 23, 2001:  Richmond, CA
A high school went into lockdown for nearly two hours after an attendance office worker opened an envelope that spilled white powder.  The powder tested negative for anthrax.

October 24, 2001:  Albuquerque, NM
Police responded to a riot at a high school after the school’s resource officer asked for additional help during the lunch hours and crowds gathered, gave dirty looks and threw gang signs.  Officers stayed for special attention at dismissal due to concerns of fights.  No fights occurred.

October 24, 2001:  East Baton Rouge, LA
A 17-year-old male was arrested after allegedly pouring Liquid Paper on his desk and telling his teacher that it was the “white powder stuff” being sent through the mail.

October 24, 2001:  Charleston, W.Va.
A 15-year-old female and a 14-year-old male were arrested for disturbance of their junior high school after about 500 students were evacuated when a guidance counselor opened a letter containing a white powdery substance, possibly believed to be baby powder.

October 24, 2001: Easton, PA
Police and safety officials were called to two school district buildings to respond to suspected hazardous materials that turned out to be false alarms.  In one case, officials responded to an elementary school when a custodian discovered a “granular substance” inside a vent in an empty classroom.  In the other incident, two workers at the district’s earned income tax office came in with rashes which turned out to the shingles and an allergic reaction to a cleaning chemical.

October 25, 2001:  Boston, MA
A high school was evacuated and two secretaries, a school police officer, and two HAZMAT technicians were decontaminated after being exposed to a letter falsely claiming to contain the Ebola virus.  Tests on the items were negative.  The letter’s envelope reportedly contained no return address and was postmarked from Lithuania.

October 26, 2001:  Louisville, KY
Two fifth-grade female elementary students, ages 10 and 12, were arrested for terroristic threats after allegedly leaving an envelope with white powder and a threat at the front office counter of the school.

October 26, 2001:  Alexandria, MN
An elementary school closed after a parent attending a meeting in the school’s library the night before noticed a thin layer of white powder near a newly displayed book.  Officials believed that the powder was talcum residue used by the publishing company in shipping.

October 30, 2001:  Travelers Rest, SC
Two ninth-grade males, students from two different high schools, were arrested in connection with a white powder substance scattered across the courtyard a one of their high schools, a scare that kept the school closed for two days while authorities investigated the incident.  Two individuals wearing heavy winter clothing, hoods and gloves were caught on the school’s security cameras spreading white powder and vandalizing school property for about 15 minutes according to reports.

October 30, 2001:  Ridgeland, MS
A 16-year-old male from Irving, Texas, was arrested after being found in a middle school’s library looking for a female student he had been communicating with via the Internet for several months, according to reports.  The male allegedly first claimed that he wanted to enroll in the school, but further questioning by school officials lead them to call police.

October 31, 2001:  Salt Lake City, UT
A 13-year-old female intermediate school student was stabbed and possibly raped after being picked up while on the way to school.

November 1, 2001:  Sacramento, CA
Eleven students were reportedly involved in assaults and fights on their high school campus during the first two months of school.  Additional security officers were hired, police presence was beefed up, and staff and parent visibility was encouraged.

November 1, 2001:  Omaha, NE
A 12-year-old male middle school student was arrested on suspicion of felony terroristic threats for allegedly bringing a bag of baby powder marked “Antrax” to school and leaving it on the stairs, according to police.

November 2, 2001:  Plant City, FL
Two high school male students, ages 15 and 16, were charged with disruption of a school function after giving four other students envelopes containing white powder.

November 2, 2001: Tarpon Springs, FL
An 11-year-old sixth-grade male middle school student pulled a pocketknife on another 11-year-old student in a locker room as a fight began over a baseball game on the school’s physical education field.  A teacher broke up the fight and took the knife, turning it over to the school resource officer.

November 2, 2001:  Battle Ground, WA
A 16-year-old male high school student was arrested after a white powder, later determined to be a “sugar-like substance,” was found in a hallway of the high school.  The item was found by a member of the school’s security staff outside of a restroom in a main hallway.

November 5, 2001:  Macon, GA
An elementary school teacher was struck in her face, had her head slammed to the ground, and was raped by a male in her trailer classroom behind the school as classes were being dismissed.

November 6, 2001:  Shiprock, NM
Seven high school students, several who had been suspended, attacked the school’s interim principal, assistant principal, and several staff, threatening to kill them and throwing rocks at them.  One of the suspects pulled a knife on an educational assistant, who escaped being stabbed, but the knife did touch his arm. Police were called and charges were filed.

November 6, 2001:  Mill Valley, CA
A high school was evacuated after a white powder spilled from an envelope containing a threatening note that was placed in teacher’s mailbox next to the principal’s office.  The letter reportedly mentioned anthrax. The teacher, unaware of the potential danger, reportedly took the envelope home and then returned it to the school the next day, where the powder spilled out.

November 7, 2001:  Belle Fourche, SD
Two 18-year-old male high school students were arrested and charged in connection with alleged death threats against students at their school. One of the males reportedly had been seen with a 9mm Glock gun and practicing shooting the gun, and making a list of people at the school he wanted to kill.  The second male allegedly had been chasing around the other male in connection with alleged threats made against him, his girlfriend, and their baby.  The school’s superintendent said that there was never a gun actually at the school.

November 7, 2001:  Boston, MA
Six female students and one male were arrested after at least a dozen students reportedly engaged in what police were investigating as a possible hate crime at their high school.  The argument allegedly started in a fifth-floor hallway of the school over an earring.

November 7, 2001:  Roswell, GA
A 14-year-old male eighth-grade middle school student was arrested and placed in the county detention center for beating his 48-year-old female school bus driver.  The 14-year veteran bus driver required 17 stitches in her forehead and her right eye was swollen shut after the male reportedly bit and attacked her after she threatened to write him up for continued misbehavior on the bus.  The student reportedly put her in a choke hold as she pulled over her bus and tried to call for police, and proceeded to attack her after throwing her cell phone out into traffic.

November 8, 2001:  Springfield, LA
A 38-year-old female and a 37-year-old security guard armed with a firearm were arrested as the female, the mother, and the male attempted to kidnap the student from the student’s middle school.  The school’s principal stopped them from taking the child and the two were surrounded by students and teachers until police arrived and arrested the pair.  The child’s parents were reportedly involved in a custody battle.

November 8, 2001:  Bradenton, FL
A 9-year-old fourth-grade male elementary school student was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center on a felony charge for possessing a loaded .22-caliber handgun in school.  A classmate saw the gun in the student’s desk and took the gun to the class teacher, according to reports.  The boy told investigators a 14-year-old family friend had hidden the gun in his family’s laundry room.

November 8, 2001:  Ocala, FL
Area schools were locked down for about 20 minutes as a student pilot flying a single-engine plane was forced to land at an Ocala airport by two F-16 fighter jets.

November 8, 2001:  Allentown, PA
A 19-year-old male former high school student was detained by the school resource officer and the suspect was arrested after he assaulted a teacher who had tried to intercede in his attack on a student.  The male was also charged for possession of a controlled substance when Ecstasy was found on his possession.

November 9, 2001:  Baltimore, MD
Two 15-year-old male high school students were charged with attempted murder and assault, and police were seeking 11 others, for the alleged gang-related beating of a 15-year-old ninth-grade male about 100 yards from their high school at 9am.  The victim was listed in critical condition by the hospital.

November 9, 2001:  Livermore, CA
A high school was put into a lockdown as SWAT team members searched the campus in the morning following a report of a student carrying a handgun and showing it to fellow students.  Two students were detained and questioned, with one of them subsequently released and the other booked into juvenile hall.

November 12, 2001:  Detroit, MI
A 13-year-old eighth-grade middle school student was reportedly found by a school security officer to be in possession of a handgun.  The student said she brought the gun to her school because she was concerned about some girls threatening her, according to police.

November 13, 2001:  Port Richey, FL
An elementary school and a middle school were locked down as sheriff’s deputies searched for a bank robber.  The robber was not located.

November 13, 2001: Sterling, VA
A 14-year-old male high school student was arrested after the school’s resource officer found a loaded gun in his backpack following tips from other students.

November 13, 2001:  Philadelphia, PA
A 17-year-old male high school senior honors student was assaulted by seven students in a school hallway while on the way to his lunch period after picking up some work from a class.  The victim received a fractured skull and a blood clot on the brain that required brain surgery.  Seven suspects were charged in the attack.  The State House of Representatives held a subsequent hearing in December of 2001 after it became known that neither school nor police officials at the school reported the incident to the police, but instead the incident was reported about five hours later by hospital staff.

November 13, 2001:  Dayton, OH
A 35-year-old female was accused of dragging a deputy sheriff, a high school resource officer, with her car after she fled when he attempted to talk with her about an warrant that had been issued for her arrest.  The female is the mother of one youngster who did not attend the school, but was in a group of non-students outside the school that the deputy was talking to prior to the incident.  The deputy became caught in her car door and was dragged as she drove away while fleeing the scene.

November 19, 2001: Lincoln, NE
A 13-year-old female middle school student was stabbed by scissors by another 13-year-old female student during a dispute in class.  The victim received a small cut on the head, according to police.

November 19, 2001:  Richmond, VA
A 22-year-old, first-year female teacher was assaulted and robbed by a male who claimed to have a gun as she prepared her day’s lessons while in her second-grade classroom around 7:15am.  The incident occurred about 45 minutes before school started.  The male robbed the teacher of her jewelry and hit her in the head. She screamed and he ran out of the building.

November 20, 2001:  Belton, MO
Two men, ages 18 and 26, were arraigned on felony charges of distributing drugs near a school after police began investigating reports of drug sales, and the presence of business cards used by the drug dealers, in the city high school and middle school.  The investigation followed the arrest of a 7th-grader caught with marijuana said he used the business card to buy drugs.  To track down the drug dealers, undercover police simply called the number on the business card.

November 20, 2001:  Spokane, MO
A 63-year-old retired school superintendent was charged with unlawful use of a weapon after leaving a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun, an AK-47 with a bayonet and black metal club with a knife in the handle in the storage room near his former office.  The superintendent, who retired October 31st, reportedly acknowledged the mistake, saying that he put them there three or four years ago because guns had been stolen in a rash of burglaries near his home.  School officials clearing the stockroom found the weapons and alerted authorities.

November 24, 2001:  New Bedford, MA
Police arrested three high school male students, one age 17 and the other two juveniles, and planned on arresting at least two other juveniles, in connection with an alleged massacre plot at their high school.  Police seized bomb-making instructions, knives, shotgun shells and pictures of the suspects holding what appeared to be handguns from their homes.  Police said a custodian found a letter at the high school allegedly outlining the suspects’ plans to detonate explosives, shoot fleeing students, and kill themselves when police arrived.  School and police credited school resource officers, students, and the custodian after students came forward to the officers with information they knew about the plot.

November 26, 2001:  Hephzibah, GA
A 12-year-old female middle school student was found to have a .380-caliber gun in her book bag after she threatened a classmate in a feud over boy, according to police. Other students saw the gun and told the school’s public safety officer who found the gun, which was reportedly loaded with a magazine and one round inside.

November 26, 2001:  Washington, DC
Approximately 700 high school students were evacuated following an anonymous call to police that reported that anthrax spores had been placed in the school’s ventilation system.  Students, who had been taken to a nearby middle school, were allowed to return after HAZMAT officials determined the call was a hoax.

November 27, 2001:  Jacksonville, FL
A 57-year-old middle school teacher was slashed with a razor blade or knife taped to one end of a stick carried by a male believed to be a transient person, according to police.  The teacher heard a knock at a door about 7:30am, opened the door, and was struck on the side of his face and jaw, after which he was slashed on the arm as he raised it to defend himself.  Classes at the school do not start until 9:15am.  The teacher was treated at the hospital and released.  Police believe he was randomly selected and there was no conversation or apparent motive known.

December 3, 2001:  Bowling Green, VA
A 13-year-old male middle school student was arrested for allegedly taking a gun to school and talking of killing three other middle school students.  The boy was arrested at home later that evening and a .38 caliber handgun was reportedly found in his bedroom.

December 4, 2001:  Boulder, CO
Two 14-year-old male middle schools had been removed from school and were under investigation for allegedly threatening violence and making a verbal list of students they were going to kill.  A total of 16 students and one teacher were reportedly on the list.

December 4, 2001:  Terre Haute, IN
A 17-year-old female and a 15-year-old male, both high school students,  were charged with causing an anthrax scare at a city high school after a letter written with cut-out letters and threatening anthrax contamination was left in the school’s main office.  A teacher put the envelope in a plastic bag and the office was evacuated as police were called to the school.

December 4, 2001: Milwaukee, WI
A total of 59 students were suspended for a participating in an estimated six to 15 fights that occurred throughout the school and school grounds over a period of a couple hours according to reports.  It was believed to be the largest number of students suspended in a single incident in the district’s history.

December 4, 2002:  Napa, CA
A 13-year-old female middle school student was arrested and charged with a felony for writing a letter in which she threatened to kill her science teacher with a 20-guage shotgun and then stab her with a knife.

December 5, 2001: Stuart, FL
A high school assistant principal was assaulted and his head was hit against a wall as he was restraining a 15-year-old female student involved in a fight.  Another administrator was knocked over a bench during the fight. The two females involved in the fight were arrested and charged.

December 6, 2001:  Goshen, IN
An elementary school went into lockdown and a high school was used for gathering families following a shooting at a Goshen factory that resulted in one person killed, six people wounded, and the suicide of the shooter.

December 6, 2001:  Chattanooga, TN
A 16-year-old female student was arrested for allegedly injuring two female students and a female teacher with a knife during a fight that started in a hallway and spilled over into a classroom.  The victims received minor cuts, scratches, and bruises according to reports.

December 7, 2001:  Huntley, IL
A 39-year-old substitute school nurse was arrested and charged with stealing Ritalin and Adderall, prescription drugs for students, in connection with the alleged theft of 300 pills from four schools over a period of time. The drugs are stimulants used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children.  The schools allegedly included a high school, middle school, and two elementary schools.

December 10, 2001:  San Bernardino, CA
A 17-year-old high school male was stabbed five to six times with a hunting knife having an approximately 5-inch-long blade during an altercation in the school cafeteria. The suspect, another student, was arrested.  Police said the incident may have been gang-related.

December 11, 2001:  Austin, TX
FBI agents reportedly alerted schools throughout Texas that a vague threat had been received indicating that two people might retaliate against unidentified Texas schools for the U.S. bombings in Afghanistan.  The threat, received from a foreign government, was vague, lacked details, and was being investigated for its credibility, according to reports. Sources also were quoted as saying that Nevada schools were also threatened, although federal officials later denied that any state other than Texas had threats against its schools.

December 11, 2001:  Hampton, VA
A 14-year-old male attempted to hijack his school bus by putting a steak knife to the driver’s throat.  Two other students charged him and wrestled the male off the bus.  The student ran away and another student pursued him. A school resource officer, who responded to the scene, was able to go after the student, who was charged with carjacking, attempted malicious wounding and abduction.

December 12, 2001: Austin, TX
Two coaches, ages 37 and 46, were found fighting in a coach’s bathroom and office, and then into a school hallway, where a student called another teacher to separate the two men, according to reports.  The 37-year-old male, an assistant varsity football coach, alleged that the 46-year-old male, an assistant junior varsity football coach, struck him in the head with a heavy stick and the two proceeded to struggle afterwards.  The brawl reportedly culminated from an ongoing dispute between the two males, who had been employed at the school for four and twenty one years, respectively. The 37-year-old male was treated for six deep cuts on his head.  The 46-year-old male was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

December 13, 2001:  Beacon Falls, CT
An elementary school was closed after white powder, suspected of possibly being anthrax, was found by the principal on the building’s front steps with a trail to the boiler room.  The school serves 468 students according to reports. Preliminary tests showed the powder to be a mixture of flour and baking soda.

December 13, 2001:  Taunton, MA
A 10-year-old male middle school student allegedly attacked his principal, punching the principal and breaking the principal’s glasses.  The principal was also kicked in the head.  In an unrelated incident at another middle school, a 12-year-old male student was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill his principal and then charging at him with a pencil, disrupting an assembly.  And in another unrelated incident, a 15-year-old female high school student was arrested for bringing a knife to her high school.

December 13, 2001: Newark, NJ
Sixteen high school students were suspended and charged  by police with disorderly conduct in connection with a large fight that took place after students re-entered the high school following an hour-long evacuation due to a bomb threat.  The fight, which took place on the second floor of the school, was believed to have stemmed from a prior incident involving members of the football team, who were African-American, and other students, who are Haitian-American.

December 14, 2001: Knoxville, TN
A 14-year-old male student was arrested by his high school’s resource officer after bringing two handguns loaded with 21 rounds of ammunition and another 76 rounds of ammunition in his backpack to school.  The student told police he was considering shooting his teacher and then himself.

December 14, 2001:  San Francisco, CA
A 16-year-old male high school student was arrested and charged with five counts of attempted murder after allegedly intentionally leaving the valve to a flammable gas tank open after welding class.  One tank was reportedly close to a 220-volt arch welder, according to police.  The school’s assistant principal was quoted as saying that the student was aware of the threat to life and knew that more was being delivered, having allegedly told other students of his plan the night before the incident.

December 17, 2001:  Deltona, FL
A 14-year-old male middle school student was arrested after being found with approximately 20 ounces of gasoline in a plastic bottle and a lighter.  The student reportedly told several students that he was going to burn down his school. He had been showing off the gasoline on his school bus when he made the threats.

December 17, 2001:  Newark, DE
A 19-year-old male high school student was arrested for carrying a .22 caliber handgun in his backpack.  A fellow student spotted the gun and told the school nurse, who notified the trooper assigned to the school and school administrators.  The trooper confiscated the gun and the student was arrested.

December 17, 2001:  Federal Way, WA
A female second-year special education teacher was allegedly assaulted by a 15-year-old male student who reportedly hit her with his fists and banged her head into a desk during class.  The student was not enrolled in special education classes and had no known prior history of physical outbursts, according to reports.  The teacher was admitted to the hospital at least three times following the incident for injuries. The student reportedly was kicked out of 15 schools before coming to the State of Washington according to media reports.

December 18, 2001:  Glasgow, KY
A group of middle school students were removed from their classes after school officials were informed by resource officers that the students were allegedly planning to wear black trench coats and bring guns to school in January, according to reports.  Police were further investigating the matter.

December 18, 2001:  Hilton Head Island, SC
Two boys age 15, and another boy age 14, were arrested after approaching a high school campus with a BB gun.  Faculty locked down the high school, middle school, and elementary school after a lawyer saw the boys outside his office with a pistol and notified police upon believing it to be a real gun.  The males reportedly told police they were skipping school at the high school and were shooting the guns at birds and cans.

December 19, 2001:  Boston, MA
Three teens were charged for the beating of a high school male sophomore and the theft of his wallet at knifepoint at the edge of the campus.  Police were reportedly considering hate crime charges against the offenders because they allegedly yelled a racial slur at the victim, a white male, during the beating.  The suspects were ages 13, 15, and 16, and were not students at the school where the victim attended and was attacked.

December 19, 2001:  Portland, OR
A 12-year-old male middle school student was arrested for threatening to use a 12-gauge shotgun to shoot two 11-year-old boys at the school.  The boy had detailed plans of how and when he could gain access to a gun, according to police.

December 20, 2001:  Los Gatos, CA
Police arrested 13 high school students and five others in an undercover investigation of the sale and possession of a variety of small amounts of street drugs including marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, and ectasy.

December 20, 2001:  Arlington, TX
A 17-year-old received a broken jaw and was left unconscious on the steps of a portable classroom at a high school.  Three students were arrested.

January 3, 2002:  Boston, MA
A 15-year-old male high school student was arrested and charged with threats to do bodily harm after an assistant principal saw the male with a gun in his waistband.  The male fled the school when the administrator brought him to her office to search him, lifted his shirt, and saw the gun.  Police responded and apprehended the male at a subway station, but the gun was not located.

January 3, 2002:  Gaithersburg, MD
A 10-year-old male special education elementary school student was taken to a medical facility for a psychological examination after an outburst that included allegedly assaulting his 42-year-old teacher, cutting computer wires and threatening authorities with scissors.  The teacher was treated at the hospital for a head laceration.

January 8, 2002: Leon County, FL
Two male high school students, ages 15 and 17, were charged after the older male allegedly brought a .25 caliber semi-automatic gun to school and gave it to the younger male.  The school resource officer was told by a female student that there was a gun on campus and the officer tracked it down to the two males.

January 8, 2002:  Millard, NE
High school officials were on high alert after a notebook containing threats was found in the locker of a 15-year-old student who took his own life the day before, according to officials.  The threats reportedly indicated that the male and another 15-year-old would harm students and faculty.

January 9, 2002: Philadelphia, PA
A 13-year-old female middle school student allegedly passed out the prescription sedative Xanax to 28 classmates, ages 12-15,  who took the drug.  Twelve of the students received hospital treatment.

January 10, 2002:  Henrico, VA
Two students, one known to be age 16, were reportedly the target of police and school investigations in connection with allegations of hacking into the computers of teachers and other students using their county-issued laptop computers.

January 10, 2002:  Raymond, MS
A 17-year-old male suspended student returned to school and held the principal and assistant principal hostage at gunpoint for about three hours.  The suspect released the hostages unharmed after talking with police negotiators, according to the sheriff’s department.  Students were evacuated from the school.  The suspect reportedly had been suspended after a classroom incident and escorted from the building by a police officer earlier in the day.

January 10, 2002: Springfield, IL
A 16-year-old male high school student was charged with unlawful use of a weapon after the principal and school resource officer found a 45-caliber handgun and ammunition clip was found stashed in an abandoned air conditioner in a wooded area behind the school.  Another student turned in a note allegedly written by the male in which he suggested that he wanted to shoot three other students and then himself.

January 11, 2002:  Turlock, CA
One student stabbed another in the chest with a pencil at an alternative education school.  The pencil reportedly was stuck in the victim’s chest. No additional details were provided.

January 14, 2002:  Plainfield, NJ
A 16-year-old female high school student was slashed in the face after she attempted to break up a fight.  The suspect was reportedly a 17-year-old female student.

January 15, 2002:  Rapid City, SD
A male, described in his mid-teens to mid-20s, was being sought by authorities for molesting a young student inside an elementary school restroom.

January 15, 2002:  Arlington, TX
Three high school students were being investigated after receiving an anonymous tip that they brought two unloaded handguns onto a school bus.  Police reported that the students had fired the guns earlier that morning at a nearby park.

January 16, 2002:  Fort Pierce, FL
An 18-year-old male student was charged with three felonies after allegedly assaulting a school resource officer and swatting away his radio in a school restroom.  The suspect refused to drop a glove that the officer feared contained a weapon and when the officer called for assistance on his radio, the male knocked it out of his hand and assaulted the officer after cursing at him. Another student joined in after the officer.  The original male was apprehended and both were charged.

January 17, 2002:  Santee, CA
A male high school student was arrested in connection with bringing two BB guns and a knife to campus after a female student with a backpack similar to the male’s backpack unintentionally opened it and saw the weapons.  The student then notified the school resource officer.

January 18, 2002:  Bradenton, FL
A 14-year-old male eighth-grader was arrested for possession of a loaded .380-caliber Baretta after he and three other males were observed acting suspiciously in a restroom and searched by school resource officers, who also recovered 1.8 grams of marijuana in each of a half-dozen baggies found on the students.

January 18, 2002:  Memphis, TN
An armed robber sexually assaulted an elementary school cook and escaped with less than $15.  Armed with a gun, the man reportedly grabbed the cook as she was taking out trash just after 6am and forced her back inside the building.  He locked three cooks in a pantry and then removed one, sexually assaulting her.

January 18, 2002:  Greenwood Village and Aurora, CO
A middle school student and a high school student were sexually assaulted after school in separate attacks at their respective schools.  A 34-year-old suspect was arrested in connection with the attacks.

January 18, 2002:  Las Vegas, NV
Police were called to three schools after unexpected packages were received at the schools from the Saudi Arabian embassy.  Investigation revealed that the packages contained materials to educate students about Islam.  Officials reported 5,000 such packages randomly mailed to schools nationwide.

January 18, 2002:  Boston, MA
A 40-year-old female high school teacher was arrested for assaulting her estranged husband while he taught in his classroom at the same school.

January 18, 2002:  St. Louis, MO
A 7th-grade female middle school student was stabbed four to five times in the left thigh by a 13-year-old suspect, resulting in 20 stitches being administered at a local hospital.

January 22, 2002:  Boulder, CO
A “hit list” was found in the notebook of an undisclosed middle school student.  Police were called to investigate.

January 23, 2002: Birdsboro, PA
A school bus driver with a loaded rifle took 13 students from a Christian school over 100-miles away from their school before turning himself in to an off-duty police officer in Maryland.  No students were harmed.

January 25, 2002:  Windsor, CO
Nearly a third of a high school’s 800 students stayed home after a threat was found on a restroom wall the prior week telling students not to come to school on January 25th.

January 29, 2002:  Fitchburg, MA
Two sixth-grade male middle school students were arrested after the principal found a loaded .25-caliber handgun in a binder of one of the males.  One 13-year-old allegedly had brought the gun to school and later asked a 12-year-old to hide it for him.

January 30, 2002:  Los Angeles, CA
A 65-year-old female picking up her grandchildren at a Christian day school accidentally plowed her car into 15 children and three adults, trapping some under her vehicle.

January 30, 2002:  Eugene, OR
A 15-year-old male high school student was arrested for carrying a loaded .22-caliber gun with 50 extra rounds in his pants pocket.  A student had told the school resource officer that the male was patting his pocket as if he had a weapon and the officer apprehended the male.

February 1, 2002:  Dallas, TX
Three high school students, 15, 16, and 17, were charged with robbery after a teacher was reportedly held at gunpoint and robbed of $1,305 collected from the school’s store, a cellphone and a set of school keys around 7:45am in the morning.  The students were detained by the principal after one of them went to the principal to collect a reward for turning in an accomplice.

February 2, 2002:  Sharon, PA
As many as 100 people were involved in a brawl between rival high schools at a Saturday basketball game, according to police.  Three police officers were slightly injured and one person was arrested on aggravated assault and riot charges with more arrests anticipated.

February 5, 2002:  Speedway, IN
A 13-year-old male student was arrested after threatening to shoot and kill 10 students, the school’s principal and a teacher.

February 6, 2002:  Philadelphia, PA
A 10-year-old male student was grazed in his right cheek by a bullet when an off-duty police officer was conducting a school demonstration and dropped her gun.  The officer’s child was reportedly one of 23 students in the classroom at the charter school where the incident occurred.

February 7, 2002:  Columbia, SC
The owner of a private security firm was arrested and charged with the embezzlement of $35,000 from ticket sale deposits for home high school football games that he was hired by the school to collect and deposit.

February 7, 2002:  Pembroke Pines, FL
Two male high school students, ages 15 and 16, were suspects in making $1,030 in counterfeit money.  A female student showed the bills to a school resource officer who notified the Secret Service, who in turn interviewed the teens and turned over the case to the local police.

February 9, 2002:  Ventura County, CA
A 41-year-old female high school bookkeeper was taken into custody by sheriff’s officers in connection with the alleged theft of over $150,000 from the school’s student store, sporting events and other campus money-making activities.

February 11, 2002:  New York, New York
A 17-year-old male high school basketball player was stabbed five times outside of his Bronx school by a gang of five male teens in a situation police described as a case of mistaken identity.  The student was stabbed twice in the back and once in each side, buttocks, and left hand.

February 11, 2002: East St. Louis, IL
A gang of approximately 20 males assaulted a 15-year-old male high school student, beginning in the cafeteria and then stomping him as he was on the ground inside a school hallway.  Two attacks also occurred after a dance held on the previous Saturday night at the school during which time about 25 individuals attacked a 14-year-old boy on the property and four girls attacked a 13-year-old female shortly thereafter.

February 12, 2002:  Spring Valley, CA
Students at a middle school were locked down in their classrooms for an hour as sheriff’s deputies searched for three high school-aged youths, one who was allegedly armed, that had been observed by a part-time school employee as she left the school around 2pm.  The youth were not located.

February 12, 2002:  Hephzibah, GA
An 18-year-old male high school student was arrested after the father of a 16-year-old male student called the sheriff’s office to report that his son received a 2-inch wound in his lower back from allegedly being stabbed with a scribe in the school’s metalworks class.

February 12, 2002:  Marietta, IN
A 31-year-old female parent of an elementary school student was arrested by school resource officers after they smelled what they believed to be marijuana and subsequently found a marijuana cigarette in the car (and a marijuana seed in the purse) of the parent who was visiting the school.

February 20, 2002:  Pittsburg, PA
School police officers arrested three suspects and were seeking warrants for the arrest of five or six others following attacks on adults and elementary and middle school students around dismissal.  School police officials said that about seven intoxicated youths ages 16-18 began punching students and adults, including children as young as first graders, requiring paramedics to treat several people, including a female school security officer whose finger was injured.

February 21, 2002:  Lilburn, GA
A 29-year-old male was arrested blocks away from an elementary school after allegedly walking into the school and striking an 8-year-old female student in the head with a hammer in an apparent random attack.

February 21, 2002:  Cashmere, WA
A 14-year-old male high school student was arrested for allegedly stabbing a 16-year-old male student who had allegedly made racial slurs toward him.  The victim was reportedly stabbed at least eight times in his back, side and chest.

February 21, 2002:  Arlington, TX
Six juvenile and two adult students were detained and two police officers were injured after a fight in a high school cafeteria. One officer received a cut on his hand and the other received a cut on the head while breaking up the altercation.

February 22, 2002:  Jefferson County, CO
Four students were arrested as nearly 400 students yelled in protest after one of those arrested threw a pie in the Columbine High School cafeteria.

February 23, 2002:  Albuquerque, NM
A 17-year-old female high school senior reported to police that she was kidnapped at knifepoint in the school parking lot during a weekend basketball game and then raped nearby.

February 25, 2002:  Anaheim, CA
A 32-year-old male was arrested after running from police who reportedly watched him try to break into an elementary school.  A 38-year-old male was arrested on February 13th in possession of numerous stolen items.  Police continue investigating the theft of electronic equipment and other items from more than 50 Orange County elementary, secondary and private school classrooms over a three month period of time.

February 26, 2002:  St. Paul, MN
A 16-year-old male high school student was arrested and charged with terroristic threats in connection with email messages threatening to blow up another high school’s arena and making threats on another person.

February 26, 2002:  Southlake, TX
A high school was locked down and additional police added after an anonymous caller reportedly told a school administrator that some students were in danger of a retaliatory attack.  The caller was not making threats, but instead was reporting an apparent legitimate concern according to reports.

February 26, 2002:  Boston, MA
A first-grade teacher was reportedly threatened, smacked and shoved in her classroom with students present by an irate parent complaining about the teacher disciplining her child.  The teacher had replaced a 31-year-veteran teacher who had been attacked by a parent in an unrelated incident on January 19, 2001.

February 27, 2002:  Loudoun County, VA
A 50-year-old payroll accountant was charged with money laundering and embezzlement in connection with more than $200,000 missing from a school system substitute teacher account she supervised, according to reports. School officials said she resigned on January 23rd.  Media reports indicate she had been previously convicted of embezzlement in 1991 in West Virginia.

February 28, 2002:  Westminter, CO
A man who was possibly carrying a handgun reportedly attempted to enter a high school according to student reports.  The school went into a lockdown. The male was not located.

February 28, 2002:  Espanola, NM
Twenty-eight high school students received 10-day suspensions for fights during lunch time that went out of control.  Approximately 15 to 20 law enforcement officers responded from four agencies, with city police dispensing pepper spray to disperse hundreds of students gathered around small groups of fighters.  School was canceled the following day for a “cooling-off period” according to reports.

March 5, 2002:  Fairfax, VA
An 18-year-old high school student received minor injuries after being stabbed during a fight that occurred during intermission at a night school musical and fashion show event.  The suspects, non-students, fled the building as teachers and other staff broke up the fight.

March 6, 2002:  Lakewood, CO
A 46-year-old male with a gun barricaded himself in his apartment for more than five hours, forcing a nearby elementary school to go into lockdown.  The suspect was eventually arrested.

March 20, 2002:  Carmichael, CA
A 13-year-old 8th grade male student, armed with a .22 caliber gun and 50 extra bullets, was subdued by a school resource officer deputy after the first target on his hit list, a science teacher, escaped before he could pull the trigger.  The student was in possession of a will and had planned to die himself.

April 28, 2002: Pahrump, NV
A 15-year-old armed with a Samurai sword hijacked a school bus as a part of plan to blow up his high school.  The boy was caught in California after leading police on a high-speed chase through Nevada.

May 13, 2002:  Arlington, WA
An expelled student was arrested Monday after threatening a Lakewood High School class for more than an hour with two long kitchen knives. The teen also threatened the school’s principal with the 10-inch and 12-inch knives when she entered the classroom and tried to defuse the situation.  The male surrendered to the school resource officer deputy who entered the room with his gun drawn.