Report: School Slayings Down From 1990s

(AP) — About 16 students are murdered at U.S. schools each year, says a new government report that shows the number and rate of slayings has held steady and is lower than in the previous decade.

“Schools remain safe places for students,” said report co-author Jeff Hall, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC counted murders of students that occurred at elementary, middle or high schools, on school-sponsored trips, or while students were on their way to or from school. A total of 116 such deaths occurred from July 1999 through June 2006.

That’s a lower number and rate than in previous years, which included the infamous shooting spree at Columbine High School in Colorado in April 1999 when 12 were killed. Overall, from July 1994 to June 1999, there were 172 student slayings at schools.

The new numbers show massacres remain rare and that 101 of 116 deaths involved single-victim incidents.

Researchers didn’t study why school-associated killings have dropped since the 1990s, but it may have to do with violence prevention measures, Hall said.

“They know there’s a cop at school. I think that’s somewhat of a deterrent,” said Lew Cox, executive director of Violent Crime Victim Services, a Tacoma, Wash.-based organization.

Most children are killed at home, at parties or on the streets, Cox said.