Gunfire has echoed near Indiana’s K-12 campuses more than 2,700 times over the past decade — a trend that researchers, child advocates, and school safety experts say demands expanded training, stronger trauma support systems, and greater investment in community-based resources.
Data compiled by The Trace’s Gun Violence Data Hub found at least 2,771 shootings within earshot — about four city blocks — of an Indiana school between 2015 and 2024. The data includes traditional public, charter and private schools.
These “school-adjacent” shootings don’t often occur on school grounds, but instead unfolded during or shortly after school hours in surrounding communities, forcing school leaders to cope with trauma that starts beyond their fences but often ripples into classrooms…