Knoxville school shooting serves as stark reminder of a familiar - but preventable - threat James Densley, Metropolitan State University April 14, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail James Densley, Metropolitan State University and Jillian Peterson, Hamline University (THE CONVERSATION) With most U.S. students having learned virtually in 2020 because of the pandemic, the nation logged a record low for school shootings. There were just three deaths in a total of 10 school shootings in all of 2020. This compares with eight deaths in 25 school shootings in 2019. Now, as students return to schools for in-person instruction, the specter of school shootings is back. This was evidenced in the April 12 school shooting at the Austin-East Magnet High School in Knoxville, Tennessee. The shooting left one student dead and an school resource officer injured.