Beyond Motive: Situational Influences in Student Perpetrated Shootings

Due to the reactive nature of school policies surrounding school shootings, such as the increased implementation of various security measures, it is important to understand whether these new approaches make a meaningful difference in school safety. Based in situational crime prevention techniques and guided by the theoretical basis found in routine activity theory, this paper will explore the potential effects that various situational security measures may have on the decision of school shooters, by examining how security measures affected outcomes of studentperpetrated school shootings. Of particular interest is whether the presence of these security measures impact the time and location of shooting incidents. Using data on K-12 school shootings in the United States from 2000-2016, this paper will extend the current literature by looking beyond the utility of security measures on campus crime and violence and narrow the focus to their effect on school shootings.