Massachusetts School Safety News

MASSACHUSETTS

• 6/19/24 - 15-year-old girl shot to death hours before her middle school graduation, authorities say - LOWELL, Mass. (AP) — A 21-year-old man has been arrested and charged with fatally shooting a 15-year-old girl hours before she was scheduled to attend her middle school graduation in Massachusetts, authorities said.

• 4/9/24 - Violence 'really bad' after COVID, Brockton superintendent says. What he saw, what helped - BROCKTON — Although the safety and security concerns that schools in Brockton are experiencing have existed since before the pandemic, Brockton Public Schools saw a huge increase in violence once it returned to in-person learning, said BPS Superintendent Mike Thomas.

• 4/6/24 - Student found with switchblade at Stoneham elementary school, officials say - A student is facing disciplinary action after being found to have a switchblade at Colonial Park Elementary School in Stoneham on Friday, according to officials.

• 4/2/24 - School resource officer accidentally shoots gun in bathroom, Cambridge police say - An officer assigned to Cambridge Rindge and Latin School accidentally fired a gun while using a staff bathroom Tuesday, according to police in the Massachusetts city

• 3/29/24 - Violence at Brockton High has reached a fever pitch. Here’s what officials are doing - In February, four Brockton School Committee members said they felt disciplinary issues at Brockton High School were so out-of-hand that they believed the National Guard should be deployed to get things under control.

• 3/16/24 - Massachusetts is Home to America’s Most Violent High School - America's Most Violent High School is in Massachusetts; Students are Forming Fight Clubs 

• 3/11/24 - Gun fired inside Springfield Sci-Tech during altercation, 1 arrested - SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – An adult that allegedly was involved in the fight inside the Springfield High School of Science and Technology Monday afternoon has been arraigned as police continue their search for a shooting suspect also involved.

• 3/10/24 - 12-year-old arrested, accused of threatening mass shooting at Norwood middle school - A 12-year-old has been arrested in connection to a threat about a mass shooting at a middle school in Norwood, Massachusetts.

• 3/5/24 - Staffer injured trying to break up fight at violent Mass. school after governor refused to send National Guard - A staffer was hurt trying to break up a fight at a violence-plagued Massachusetts high school that has weathered such turmoil that officials asked for help from the National Guard.

• 2/18/24 - Amid Brockton student violence, proposal to call in National Guard stirs controversy - As incidents of student violence increase at Brockton High School, some school committee members are asking for additional help monitoring students

• 1/3/24 - Boston Police arrest student they say had a gun at a Back Bay high school - A Back Bay high school was placed into lockdown this morning after a student was allegedly seen with a gun there.

• 12/30/23 - 18-year-old found dead alongside parents in Dover home remembered as sweet, smart and kind - The 18-year-old who was found dead Thursday night alongside her parents inside their Dover, Massachusetts, home, in what has only been described as a deadly incident of domestic violence, is being remembered by the schools she attended as a bright, kind young woman who had her whole life ahead of her.

• 12/28/23 - ‘Heartbreaking’: 2 teens, including student, killed in ‘targeted attack’ in Lynn, authorities say - LYNN, Mass. — An investigation is underway after a pair of teenagers, including a student, were shot to death in Lynn late Wednesday night, a day after a triple shooting rocked the North Shore city, authorities announced Thursday.

• 11/29/23 - 14-year-old student arrested with loaded gun at South Boston school - The boy's mother spoke with NBC10 Boston and said her son had been having trouble in school

• 10/28/23 - 1 dead, 1 injured after shooting at Worcester State University - WORCESTER - One person is dead and another is injured after a shooting on the campus of Worcester State University early Saturday morning. Students were ordered to shelter-in-place after the shooting at about 2:30 a.m. near a campus parking garage. 

• 10/24/23 - 14-year-old accused of threatening to ‘shoot everyone' at Chelsea school - A teenager was arraigned Monday after allegedly threatening violence at Shore Educational Collaborative in Chelsea, Massachusetts

• 9/13/23 - Student accused of bringing loaded gun to Lowell school - Police were called to the Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School after a report that there may be students with guns at the school and that someone made a threat to "shoot up the block"

• 8/14/23 - Uptick in classroom violence largely a hangover from COVID - ANDOVER — School violence, everything from cyberbullying to physical altercations, is becoming more prevalent in schools.

• 7/27/23 - Marblehead school committee meeting on superintendent's contract aborted after perceived threat - MARBLEHEAD, Mass. — The Marblehead, Massachusetts school committee abruptly ended its meeting after just one minute this week because of a perceived threat made against one of its members.

• 6/14/23 - Student brought unloaded handgun to Central Middle School, Quincy superintendent says - QUINCY, Mass. — A seventh-grade student brought an unloaded handgun to a Massachusetts middle school and showed it to other students on Tuesday afternoon outside after the school day, according to a letter from the superintendent.

• 6/14/23 - Staff member assaulted by student while trying to break up fight at Henderson School in Boston - BOSTON —The Boston Police Department is investigating a student's attack on a staff member, which happened when the staffer tried to break up a fight between students at the Henderson K-12 Inclusion School in Dorchester.

• 4/5/23 - Lack of response after Southbridge student brings gun to school leaves teachers concerned - SOUTHBRIDGE, Mass. — Teachers at Southbridge High School are frustrated and worried after learning a student brought a gun to school and there was no lockdown in place.

• 3/28/23 - Police investigating hoax threat calls made to several area schools - (WGGB/WSHM) - Multiple school communities were left terrified on Tuesday after a string of threats came one day after the deadly Nashville shooting.

• 2/15/23 - More Hoax School Threats in Mass. as Police Continue to Investigate - Massachusetts State Police have distributed a checklist to schools for how to keep track of and record the threats they are getting

• 2/14/23 - More than a dozen Massachusetts schools were targeted by hoax threat calls - DEDHAM, Mass. —For the second day in a row, local and state police responded on Tuesday to reports of threats at several Massachusetts schools.

• 1/27/23 - Police search Holyoke schools after report of student possibly bringing in weapon - HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) – Students and staff at Holyoke Middle School and Peck School were told to shelter in place Friday morning after a report of a student possibly bringing a weapon to school.

• 1/5/23 - Teacher knocked unconscious while protecting student in attack outside Mattapan school - A group Mattapan students brutally jumped another student and the teacher walking her home outside the Young Achievers Science And Math Pilot School after school Wednesday, according to details in a Boston Police report.

• 12/31/22 - Boy, 16, facing assault charge for ‘vicious attack’ on ref at high school basketball game - A high school basketball player allegedly sucker punched a referee during a game in what was described by authorities as a “vicious attack.”

• 12/21/22 - 14-year-old student brings gun to Lawrence High School, police say - LAWRENCE, Mass. —A 14-year-old boy is facing charges after he was accused of bringing a gun to Lawrence High School on Wednesday.

• 12/20/22 - ‘Unnerving’: What the Tufts president said about the school’s 3 bomb threats — before a fourth on Tuesday - Tufts University received another bomb threat on Tuesday morning — the fourth made on campus in the last seven days.

• 12/14/22 - Ludlow police say report of weapon at Baird Middle School was unfounded - Claims of a weapon on Baird Middle School’s campus were deemed false after Ludlow police conducted an investigation on Tuesday.

• 12/13/22 - Report of firearm at Ludlow Baird Middle School unfounded - LUDLOW, Mass. (WWLP) – An investigation by Ludlow Police was conducted Tuesday after they received a report of a possible firearm at the Baird Middle School.

• 12/8/22 - Police respond to hoax calls of school shooters in Portsmouth and Dover - Schools in Portsmouth and Dover were the target of hoax calls reporting active shooters in schools Thursday morning. A large police presence responded, swept the schools, and found no intruders within an hour of the calls, but not before students, teachers, parents, school staff and the community were shaken by the hoax. 

• 12/1/22 - Police investigating after a weapon was discovered in students bag at elementary school in Barre, MA - BARRE, Mass. — Authorities are investigating an incident at the Ruggles Lane School in Barre, Mass. after a weapon was discovered in a student’s backpack on Thursday.

• 11/1/22 - Threat of school shooting written on bathroom wall forces closure of North Attleborough Middle School - NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. — A message threatening a school shooting was found written on the wall of North Attleborough Middle School, and classes have been canceled for the day.

• 10/28/22 - 7-year-old brings loaded gun to Boston elementary school, police say - A 7-year-old student brought a loaded gun to a Boston elementary school Thursday, police said, as city officials warn that charges may come for whoever allowed the child to access the weapon.

• 10/28/22 - 18-year-old student arrested after gun discovered near Boston high school - BOSTON —An 18-year-old Boston high school student was arrested on Friday afternoon after a loaded firearm was found in a backpack in a nearby neighborhood.

• 10/27/22 - 7-year-old found with loaded gun at Up Academy Holland School in Boston - BOSTON —A juvenile was found with a loaded gun at a Boston school at the end of the school day on Thursday.

• 10/23/22 - More Kids Have Already Been Shot in Boston This Year Than in All of 2021 - In all of 2021, there were 12 total shooting victims under the age of 18 -- four fewer than the City of Boston has already seen in 2022, Boston police told NBC10 Boston on Sunday

• 10/23/22 - Girl Viciously Attacked By 2 Other Students at Medford High School, Mom Says - Video of the alleged incident shows two girls attacking another girl, grabbing her by the hair, throwing her to the ground and repeatedly punching her in the head

• 10/5/22 - Officials concerned with ‘students packing guns’ after Boston high school shooting - Officials said they are concerned about the “public crisis” of gun violence at schools hours after Boston police officers arrested a Jeremiah E. Burke High School student for reportedly shooting another high school student in front of the school Tuesday morning.

• 10/4/22 - Shooting marks second act of violence at Boston's Burke High School in 3 weeks - BOSTON — A student at a Boston high school is facing multiple charges in connection with the shooting of another student, the second act of major violence to happen within the past few weeks at that school.

• 10/4/22 - Boston police to increase presence at Jeremiah E. Burke High School after student shot by classmate - BOSTON — BOSTON —Boston police will increase their presence at Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Dorchester after a teenage student was shot by a fellow classmate outside of the school building.

• 9/27/22 - Numerous central Massachusetts schools receive bomb threats - ASHBURNHAM, Mass. — Police in central Massachusetts communities responded to as many as 20 schools that received bomb threats on Tuesday morning.

• 9/4/22 - HIGH SCHOOL VIOLENCE | Victim identified in Mervo shooting, Teenager shot near Milford Mill Academy - The 17-year-old suspect who allegedly killed a Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School student Friday is now charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bail, according to police.

• 11/8/21 - Bomb Threat Prompts Evacuation at Abington High School - Students were forced to evacuate their classrooms after an alleged bomb threat Monday morning in Abington, Massachusetts.  Abington High School students and staff were sent to the Frolio School while Abington Middle School students went to Beaver Brook Elementary School. Pre-K students had not yet arrived for class when the evacuation was initiated.

• 11/3/21 - Dorchester principal hospitalized after attack by student, school closed Thursday - A Dorchester school will close Thursday following a student attack on the principal and another staff member, landing the principal in the hospital.  Principal Patricia Lampron and another employee were attacked by a 16-year-old female student during dismissal at the Dr. William W. Henderson K–12 Inclusion School in Dorchester on Wednesday.