Fact Check: "The Parkland school shooting was the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history."
What We Know
On February 14, 2018, a mass shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The shooter, Nikolas Cruz, killed 17 people and injured 18 others, making it the deadliest mass shooting at a high school in U.S. history (source-2). This incident surpassed previous school shootings in terms of fatalities, including the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, which resulted in 32 deaths, and the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, which resulted in 13 deaths (source-1).
Analysis
The claim that the Parkland shooting is the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history is supported by multiple credible sources. The Wikipedia page detailing school shootings by death toll clearly categorizes the Parkland shooting as the most lethal incident at a high school, with 17 fatalities. Furthermore, the Wikipedia entry on the Parkland shooting explicitly states that it is the deadliest mass shooting at a high school in U.S. history.
In evaluating the reliability of these sources, Wikipedia is generally considered a starting point for research but should be corroborated with primary sources or more authoritative references. However, the data presented in these entries aligns with reports from major news outlets and academic studies, which consistently rank the Parkland shooting at the top of the list for high school fatalities (source-8).
Other sources, such as the Washington Post and Statista, also affirm that the Parkland shooting holds this tragic distinction, reinforcing the credibility of the claim.
Conclusion
Verdict: True
The claim that the Parkland school shooting was the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history is accurate. The evidence from multiple reliable sources confirms that the incident resulted in the highest number of fatalities at a high school shooting, surpassing all previous records.
Sources
- List of school shootings in the United States by death toll - Wikipedia
- Parkland high school shooting - Wikipedia
- After Parkland: School shootings affect soaring number of ... - Washington Post
- 2018 'worst year for US school shootings' - BBC
- School shootings in the U.S. by victim count 2024 - Statista
- A Timeline of School Shootings Since Columbine - Security.org
- 12 deadliest school shooting events in the United States - ResearchGate
- Florida school shooting ranks among America's deadliest - CBS News
