PSA: School Shootings Are Very Rare Events

I just thought that after reading this story, the above needed to be said.

Another Scare Rattles Va. Tech Campus

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) – Virginia Tech students still on edge after the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history got another scare Wednesday morning as police in SWAT gear with weapons drawn swarmed Burruss Hall, which houses the president’s office.

The threat of suspicious activity turned out to be unfounded, said Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said, and the building was reopened. But students were rattled.

“They were just screaming, ‘Get off the sidewalks,'” said Terryn Wingler-Petty, a junior from Wisconsin. “They seemed very confused about what was going on. They were just trying to get people organized.”

I understand that people will be jumpy and nervous after something like this, but in reality, school shootings are not at all a common occurence and it is even less likely for their to be multiple shooting incidents at the same school.

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Steve Verdon
About Steve Verdon
Steve has a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles and attended graduate school at The George Washington University, leaving school shortly before staring work on his dissertation when his first child was born. He works in the energy industry and prior to that worked at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Division of Price Index and Number Research. He joined the staff at OTB in November 2004.