School Killings and World Murder Deaths

Murder in the Schools and the World

Richard Hollerman

Sandy Hook Elementary? Stoneman Douglass School? Rob Elementary School? These and a hundred other schools represent places where evil and conscienceless people have slain multiple students. I have been reading of murder across this country of the United States and the world and the account was not “pretty” in any way.

I don’t really understand, do you? The United States has so many more killings than many other countries do. This is a country of 4.25% of the world’s population, yet we find so many more murders than most other places in the world. We find these statistics:

The CNN research identified 288 school shootings between January 2009 and May 2018 in the U.S. By comparison, CNN found Canada and France each had two, Germany had one, and Japan, Italy and the United Kingdom had none. Based on those numbers, the U.S. had 57 times more school shootings in that time period than the other G7 countries combined.

The story also included data from countries with a higher number of school shootings that were not mentioned in the Facebook post. Mexico, for example, had eight school shootings in the same period, and South Africa had six, according to CNN. India had five while Pakistan and Nigeria each had four. But those were not mentioned in the post.

We find that (at least, according to this report) America had 57 times more school shootings than other “developed” nations do. Why?

Let’s fill out our information in this way. Note the following information about the recent killings in the world:

A shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that has killed 19 children and two adults marks the 27th school shooting this year. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the shooter behind Tuesday’s incident was killed.

This comes just 10 days after a shooting at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., that took the lives of 10 people. (https://www.npr.org/).

As you can see, there were many mass killings in schools in various parts of the country. But notice this additional  report:

Education Week has been tracking school shootings since 2018. According to its database, 119 such incidents have taken place since then. There were 27 school shootings with injuries or deaths this year. (Ibid).

Let’s now fill in our knowledge with this:

The Gun Violence Archive, an independent data collection organization, has counted 212 mass shootings that have occurred so far this year, as of Tuesday. It defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people were shot or killed, excluding the shooter. (Ibid.)

The U.S. ended 2021 with 693 mass shootings. The year before saw 611. And 2019 had 417.

As for school shootings, according to Education Week, 2021 had 34 such incidents at educational institutions (the highest since the organization started its database). In 2020, there were 10 shootings. Both 2019 and 2018 recorded 24 shootings. (Ibid.)

We have been discussing school shootings and killings. What about the nation at large?

• Number of deaths: 24,576
• Deaths per 100,000 population: 7.5

Source: National Vital Statistics System – Mortality Data (2020) via CDC WONDER

Firearm homicides

• Number of deaths: 19,384
• Deaths per 100,000 population: 5.9

We may wonder about other countries. The United States seems to have many more. This is what one source says:

School shootings are a reality in America, an average of one a week just this year alone.

But how does the US compare with other countries in the world?

That’s difficult to ascertain because very little research exists to quantify that.

For the purposes of this analysis, we followed the criteria below –

The scope: First, we looked at the G7 countries – the countries with the largest advanced economies in the world.

The countries are Canada, the US, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, the UK.

The time period: From January 1, 2009 to May 21, 2018.

The definition: The parameters we followed in this count are –

• • Shooting must involve at least one person being shot (not including the shooter)
  • Shooting must occur on school grounds
  • We included gang violence, fights and domestic violence (but our count is NOT limited to those categories)
  • We included grades Kindergarten through college/university level as well as vocational schools
  • We included accidental discharge of a firearm as long as the first two parameters are met

The analysis: For US stats, CNN reviewed media reports and a variety of databases including those from the Gun Violence Archive and Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems. For international stats, we looked at local and national media reports.

The caveat: Reporting on non-fatal school shootings is not always available. There may be additional school shootings with injuries that did not make it into the newspaper or digital publications, and therefore aren’t counted in databases that rely on media reports. This is true for shootings in the US and elsewhere.

What we found:

There have been at least 288 school shootings in the United States since January 1, 2009.

That’s 57 times as many shootings as the other six G7 countries combined.

From these statistics, we find that there are 57 times as many shootings in the United States compared to the several other “developed” countries (the G7 countries).

But are we forgetting anything as we consider this? From what we learn above, there are a lot more murders (homicides) than those that happen in schools. In fact, there are many, many more killings outside the schools! As bad as it is that children are killed within the school where they only spend 6 or as many as 8 hours a day, there are many more killings in America. What about the fact that America’s population is about 4.25% of the world population. That would seem to say that there are many more killings in the world, including the many committed in America! According to one fact above, there are 24,576 killings per year.

In order to receive a perspective, we find the following school shootings:

United States	288
Mexico	8
South Africa	6
India	5
Pakistan	4
Nigeria	4
Afghanistan	3
France	2
Canada	2
Brazil	2
Greece	1
China	1
Kenya	1
Azerbaijan	1

Sadly, we find that the United States has many, many more of these shootings than other nations. However, keep this in mind, there are many more murders in America and in other countries than merely in school! We must ever keep this in mind!

For instance, we find that numerous people were killed in one year!

Note this explanation:

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s Global Study on Homicide 2019, 464,000 people were murdered in 2017—more than five times as many as were killed in armed conflicts during the same period. The report explains that many socioeconomic factors can drive homicide rates. These factors include gender stereotypes, social inequality, unemployment, political instability, firearms possession (just over half of all homicides are committed via firearms)… and especially gangs, organized crime, and the drug trade. In fact, the report estimates that “an average of roughly 65,000 killings every year were related to organized crime and gangs over the period 2000–2017, and that up to 19% of all homicides recorded globally in 2017 were related to organized crime and gangs.”

This says that in 2017 there were 464,000 murders! Of course, this would be much higher than those murders that occur in schools!

What countries are there that produce the most murders—per year? This might help us with an answer:

Top 10 Countries with the Highest Murder Rates (per 100.000 people) in 2017:*

1. 1. El Salvador (61.7)
   2. Honduras (41.0)
   3. Venezuela (49.9)
   4. United States Virgin Islands (49.3 [2012 data])
   5. Jamaica (56.4)
   6. Lesotho (43.6 [[2016 data]] per 100k people)
   7. Belize (37.8)
   8. Saint Vincent And The Grenadines (36.5 [2016 data])
   9. Saint Kitts And Nevis (36.1 [2012 data])
   10. South Africa (35.7)

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/murder-rate-by-country.

Thus, as bad as the United States might be, there are many other nations like it. There would seem to be 9 other countries that are just as high.

We know that it might be a long list, but we find the following regarding the number of murders:

Country	Homicide Rate	Homicide Count	Measurement Year
El Salvador	52.02	3,340	2018
Jamaica	43.85	1,287	2018
Lesotho	43.56	897	2015
Honduras	38.93	3,732	2018
Belize	37.79	142	2017
Venezuela	36.69	10,598	2018
Saint Vincent And the Grenadines	36.54	40	2016
South Africa	36.40	21,036	2018
Saint Kitts And Nevis	36.09	18	2012
Nigeria	34.52	64,201	2016
Bahamas	31.96	122	2017
Trinidad And Tobago	30.65	420	2015
Mexico	29.07	36,685	2018
Anguilla	28.34	4	2014
Saint Martin	27.73	10	2016
Brazil	27.38	57,358	2018
Dominica	26.59	19	2017
Colombia	25.34	12,586	2018
Guatemala	22.50	3,881	2018
Saint Lucia	21.44	39	2018
Puerto Rico	21.09	641	2018
Montserrat	20.28	1	2012
Central African Republic	20.12	913	2016
Curacao	19.04	26	2007
Tuvalu	18.62	2	2012
Namibia	17.68	388	2012
Saint Pierre And Miquelon	15.77	1	2009
Botswana	15.25	303	2010
South Sudan	14.87	1,504	2012
Guyana	14.25	111	2018
French Guiana	13.18	30	2009
Seychelles	12.54	12	2016
Uruguay	12.06	416	2018
Eswatini	11.56	130	2017
Costa Rica	11.26	563	2018
Palau	11.17	2	2018
Antigua And Barbuda	11.06	10	2012
Grenada	10.82	12	2017
Uganda	10.52	4,497	2018
Iraq	10.07	3,339	2013
Dominican Republic	10.05	1,068	2018
Barbados	9.77	28	2018
Papua New Guinea	9.75	713	2010
Panama	9.39	392	2018
Ethiopia	8.79	8,153	2012
British Virgin Islands	8.33	2	2006
Cayman Islands	8.22	5	2014
Russia	8.21	11,964	2018
Bermuda	8.14	5	2017
Peru	7.91	2,487	2017
Kiribati	7.52	8	2012
Zimbabwe	7.48	981	2012
Nicaragua	7.19	453	2016
Paraguay	7.14	497	2018
Yemen	6.77	1,703	2013
Haiti	6.68	743	2018
Afghanistan	6.66	2,474	2018
Tanzania	6.48	3,439	2016
Philippines	6.46	6,895	2018
Bolivia	6.22	686	2016
Ukraine	6.18	2,751	2017
Mongolia	6.18	196	2018
Burundi	6.05	635	2016
Mayotte	5.93	12	2009
Ecuador	5.80	991	2018
Guadeloupe	5.75	23	2016
Turks And Caicos Islands	5.65	2	2014
Suriname	5.43	31	2017
American Samoa	5.38	3	2016
Zambia	5.37	853	2015
Argentina	5.32	2,362	2018
Greenland	5.32	3	2016
Sudan	5.15	1,702	2008
Kazakhstan	5.06	915	2017
Cuba	5.05	572	2016
United States	4.96	16,214	2018
Kenya	4.93	2,533	2018
Angola	4.85	1,217	2012
Lithuania	4.57	128	2018
Niger	4.43	788	2012
Chile	4.40	825	2018
Latvia	4.36	84	2018
Turkmenistan	4.22	203	2006
Moldova	4.10	166	2018
Timor Leste	4.10	49	2015
Marshall Islands	3.98	2	1994
Pakistan	3.88	8,241	2018
Solomon Islands	3.77	19	2008
Mozambique	3.51	849	2011
Cook Islands	3.49	1	2012
Liberia	3.26	135	2012
Sao Tome And Principe	3.25	6	2011
New Caledonia	3.20	8	2009
Samoa	3.15	6	2013
India	3.08	41,651	2018
Tunisia	3.06	332	2012
Gibraltar	2.98	1	2010
Mauritius	2.92	37	2018
Martinique	2.77	11	2009
Liechtenstein	2.64	1	2018
Turkey	2.59	2,133	2018
Thailand	2.58	1,787	2017
Rwanda	2.58	293	2015
Egypt	2.55	2,207	2012
Guam	2.50	4	2011
Iran	2.50	1,936	2014
Lebanon	2.49	171	2018
Hungary	2.49	242	2017
Sri Lanka	2.42	514	2018
Belarus	2.39	226	2018
Bangladesh	2.37	3,830	2018
Fiji	2.31	20	2014
Nepal	2.30	627	2016
Albania	2.29	66	2018
Myanmar	2.26	1,198	2016
Montenegro	2.23	14	2018
Georgia	2.22	89	2018
Azerbaijan	2.20	219	2018
Kyrgyzstan	2.19	138	2018
Malaysia	2.13	627	2013
Estonia	2.12	28	2018
Ghana	2.09	609	2017
Aruba	1.93	2	2014
Cambodia	1.84	268	2011
Kuwait	1.82	61	2012
Reunion	1.82	15	2009
Malawi	1.81	279	2012
Canada	1.76	651	2018
Sierra Leone	1.73	124	2015
Armenia	1.69	50	2018
Belgium	1.69	193	2017
Tajikistan	1.64	126	2011
Finland	1.63	90	2018
Malta	1.59	7	2018
Vietnam	1.53	1,358	2011
Israel	1.49	123	2017
Morocco	1.42	510	2018
Cameroon	1.39	341	2017
Algeria	1.36	542	2015
Jordan	1.36	133	2017
Bulgaria	1.30	92	2018
Romania	1.28	250	2018
Saudi Arabia	1.27	419	2017
Cyprus	1.26	15	2018
Burkina Faso	1.25	240	2017
Serbia	1.23	108	2018
United Kingdom	1.20	809	2018
North Macedonia	1.20	25	2018
France	1.20	779	2018
Bhutan	1.19	9	2018
Bosnia And Herzegovina	1.17	39	2018
Guinea Bissau	1.15	21	2017
Slovakia	1.14	62	2018
Uzbekistan	1.14	363	2017
Benin	1.13	126	2017
Sweden	1.08	108	2018
Denmark	1.01	58	2018
Tonga	0.97	1	2012
Austria	0.97	86	2018
Germany	0.95	788	2018
Greece	0.94	99	2018
Australia	0.89	222	2018
Iceland	0.89	3	2018
Syria	0.88	149	2018
Ireland	0.87	42	2018
Taiwan	0.82	192	2015
Portugal	0.79	81	2018
New Zealand	0.74	35	2017
Poland	0.73	277	2018
Maldives	0.72	3	2013
Hong Kong	0.65	48	2018
Spain	0.62	290	2018
South Korea	0.60	309	2018
Switzerland	0.59	50	2018
Netherlands	0.59	100	2018
Croatia	0.58	24	2018
Italy	0.57	345	2018
China	0.53	7,525	2018
Bahrain	0.52	7	2014
Brunei	0.49	2	2013
Palestine	0.49	24	2018
Slovenia	0.48	10	2018
Norway	0.47	25	2018
United Arab Emirates	0.46	44	2017
Indonesia	0.43	1,150	2017
French Polynesia	0.38	1	2009
Qatar	0.37	9	2014
Luxembourg	0.34	2	2017
Oman	0.27	13	2018
Senegal	0.27	39	2015
Japan	0.26	334	2018
Singapore	0.16	9	2018

You may want to notice particularly the first countries on the list and note where your country and others lie!

We also learn this:

While 2017’s global murder rate was 6.1 (per 100,000 people), murder rates varied widely across the globe. Central America and the Caribbean were global hotspots, with countries such as El Salvador (61.7), Honduras (41), and Jamaica (56.4) posting murder rates up to 10 times higher than the global average. The South American countries Brazil (30.8), Venezuela (49.9), and Columbia (25) followed close behind. Even with the rest of South America and North America posting lower rates, the overall average for the Americas as a whole rose to 17.2. Africa’s  rate came in at 13.0, but with the major caveat that “the raw statistics for many countries are not available.” Similarly, Oceania posted an impressive rate of 2.8, but official homicide reports “tend to deviate substantially from information on violence contained in hospital records,” suggesting that many homicides may be going unreported to the police.

Finally, Europe (3.0) and Asia (2.3) displayed rates of less than half the global average.

Factors known to contribute to lower murder rates and decreased crime overall include the wealth of a nation, the effectiveness of its law enforcement, the availability of weapons (especially firearms), and the severity of punishment for committing murder. For instance, Japan is a fairly wealthy nation with very strict regulations regarding gun possession and murder is punishable by hanging. (Ibid.)

It might be good to note the list of those places that have the lowest number of killings (https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/murder-rate-by-country)

Japan (0.2)

Singapore (0.2)

Hong Kong (China) (0.3)

Luxembourg (0.3)

Indonesia (0.4)

Norway (0.5)

Oman (0.5)

Switzerland (0.5)

United Arab Emirates (0.5)

China (0.6)

It will be noticed that the number of people murdered is much lower than in the places already noted. We need to be in the latter category and not in the former!

It would be good to remember (to repeat) that at the beginning we were speaking about school shootings and killings and in these latter pages we have been referring to murder in general. Let’s keep this distinction in mind!

Let’s remember that God, in His Word, has warned that all “murderers” are “worthy of death” (Romans 1:29, 32). No murderer has eternal life (1 John 3:15). In fact, murderers will be sent to hell or will be cast off from God eternally (Revelation 21:8). No murderer will be in the eternal place of bliss in God’s presence (Revelation 21:15). Is this true? Since it is true, we must say that those who murder others will be rejected forever by God. The only exception would be those who are willing to repent and make restitution (as much as they can).

Thus, whether we are speaking about the murderer at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, or the murderer at Robb Elementary School at Uvalde, Texas (who was shot and killed). Let’s not forget Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., which left 17 dead. Many other killings have occurred over the years. We think of one in Russia in 2004 that left 333 dead! (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_massacres_by_death_toll).

This is enough about murder. Whether we are speaking about Sandy Hook, Marjory Stonemen Douglas, or Rob Elementary, we need to keep far from murder. We learned earlier that one who commits murder and dies in this sin will face the unending wrath of God. If the ones murdered are youngsters, we believe that they are prepared to meet God. They are “safe” because of this. If they are older, then (sadly) we must say that they are under God’s wrath (Romans 1:18; John 3:36) and must face that divine judgment. Now is the time to urge people, whether young people, middle-age people, or older people, to come to God through Christ. There is no other way.