Post Exclusive: School shootings surged to record levels this spring. One sixth-grader tells why he opened fire at his middle school.

The 12-year-old told The Washington Post how he had unraveled during the pandemic, leading to his actions that day at his Minnesota middle school — part of a disturbing increase in gun violence at the nation's primary and secondary schools. Though thousands of elementary, middle and high schools remained partially or entirely closed because of the pandemic, there were 14 school shootings from March to June — the highest total over that period during any year since at least 1999, according to a Post analysis of nearly 300 incidents. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Sign up for alerts Post Exclusive June 25, 1:15 p.m. EDT School shootings surged to record levels this spring. One sixth-grader tells why he opened fire at his middle school. The 12-year-old told The Washington Post how he had unraveled during the pandemic, leading to his actions that day at his Minnesota middle school — part of a disturbing increase in gun violence at the nation's primary and secondary schools. Though thousands of elementary, middle and high schools remained partially or entirely closed because of the pandemic, there were 14 school shootings from March to June — the highest total over that period during any year since at least 1999, according to a Post analysis of nearly 300 incidents. Read more   Advertisement

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