Administration Shutters Critical School Shooting Database Amid Growing Violence

In a move that has raised concerns among school safety and terrorism experts, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Terrorism and Targeted Violence Database—a project developed to track domestic terrorism, including school shootings—has been abruptly cancelled under the Trump administration’s broader efforts to reduce government spending. 

The database, which compiled critical data on incidents of school-based violence and terrorism, had become an essential tool for law enforcement, policymakers, and school administrators to understand and combat the rising threat of targeted violence in educational settings. Its elimination, part of a broader $20 million cut to 24 projects, comes at a time when the issue of school shootings has reached alarming levels, as reported by the K-12 Dive. 

Developed in response to the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the database provided the first-ever comprehensive dataset that combined school-based violence with other terrorism events. Between 2023 and 2024, the database revealed that 400 out of more than 1,800 incidents targeted U.S. schools, resulting in 81 successful attacks that led to the deaths of dozens of children.

In a statement, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), which managed the project, emphasized that the database served as a “critical resource for developing evidence-based responses to contemporary threats.” The statement also noted that local law enforcement agencies are unprepared to handle the growing intersection of terrorism, hate crimes, and school violence.

Despite the increasing frequency of school shootings, the lack of this essential resource forces many to rely on research compiled by universities and independent organizations to fill the gap. The cancellation of this critical tool raises serious concerns about the nation’s ability to effectively respond to and prevent future school shootings and other acts of violence in educational settings.