Poisoning as a weapon in schools: a new threat scenario

 
On January 21, 2026 *, a seventh-grade student, aged about 14, brought a chemical education kit (such kits are freely available in stores) to school. He selected one of the dangerous and toxic reagents, mixed it into a carbonated drink, and then offered it to his classmates. Three teenagers drank the beverage, felt severely ill, and were hospitalized at the nearest hospital with a diagnosis of toxic poisoning. Thanks to the competent actions of the medical staff, the teenagers' lives were not in danger, and they were discharged from the hospital the next day.

Unfortunately, attempts by schoolchildren to commit mass murders of their classmates or cause harm to their health are not uncommon these days. In this case, what is of interest to experts is not the fact of the crime itself, but the method chosen by the perpetrator. The use of toxic chemicals as weapons in mass killings in educational institutions is not the most common method, but it is not unique either. Since 2000, there have been five** recorded cases of this kind:

November 20, 2006, Emsdetten, Germany
attack on a secondary school, using chemical poisons (smoke grenades) as secondary weapons; 37 victims (0 killed, 37 injured); perpetrator – male, age at the time of the crime – 18, former student of the school;

November 12, 2019, Kaiyuan, China
attack on an elementary school, using chemical poisons (toxic powder), 54 victims (0 killed, 54 injured), perpetrator – male, age at the time of the crime – 23;

December 2, 2024, Berlin, Germany
attack on an elementary school using chemical poisons (tear gas), 44 victims (0 killed, 44 injured), suspect fled, crime unsolved, identity of perpetrator unknown;

February 4, 2025, Erebro, Sweden
attack on a secondary school, using (as an auxiliary weapon) chemical poisons (smoke grenades), 22 victims (10 killed, 12 wounded), perpetrator - male, age at the time of the crime - 35 years old;

December 16, 2025, Odintsovo, Russia
attack on a secondary school, using (as an auxiliary weapon) chemical poisons (tear gas), 4 victims (1 killed, 3 wounded), age at the time of the crime - 15 years old, a student at the school.

As can be seen from the description, the criminals mainly used tear gas or poisonous smoke; in one case, the criminal sprayed toxic powder in the premises. In three out of five cases, the attackers used poisonous substances as additional weapons and only in two cases as the sole weapon.  I have not found any cases of attacks on educational institutions involving the deliberate poisoning of food or drink as a means of committing a crime, although I fully admit that they may have occurred but were not reported to the police or the media.

I would suggest that in this case, we are dealing with a new method of committing crimes such as deliberate mass harm to health or murder. Given the active discussion of this fact in the media, social networks, and forums, there is a high probability that a similar scenario could well be repeated in the near future.

I invite everyone who is involved in or simply interested in the field of applied criminology, such as the security of schools and other educational institutions, to participate in the development of effective, practical methods for preventing and suppressing threats committed in the following manner: deliberate poisoning of food or beverages with dangerous chemicals (or naturally occurring components) with the aim of mass murder or causing harm to human health.

You can contact the author in any convenient way listed on his page.

Author – Roman Grishin.

 

* The crime took place at a lyceum in the village of Kuyuki, Pestrechinsky District, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.

** There is partially confirmed data on a series of attacks using poisonous substances in schools and higher education institutions in Iran in 2022-2023. Unfortunately, Iran's information secrecy does not allow us to obtain accurate data on the circumstances of the crimes (if they occurred at all) established by law enforcement agencies for analysis and publication in the handbook.

 

#SchoolSafety #assault #poisoning #threat #chemicals #murder #harm #children #schools #safety #criminology

Has the number of school shootings decreased in 2025?

Note: English is not my native language, so I use an automated translation system to communicate. I apologize in advance if the meaning of some phrases is conveyed incorrectly. 

Not long ago, one of the leading American experts in school safety, Dr. Kenneth S. Trump, published an interesting post on social media stating that in 2025, the number of attacks on schools had fallen to its lowest level in five years, and the number of victims of such crimes had also fallen to its lowest level.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17sPNNL7j5/

First, I would like to say that I have great and sincere respect for Dr. Kenneth S. Trump. I consider him one of the world's leading experts and practitioners in school safety issues, and I highly value his personal contribution to applied criminology. Thanks to his work, many children have saved their lives and health. However, in this case, I completely disagree with the assessment expressed by Dr. Kenneth S. Trump.

On the day I read this message, I was just finishing the final edits to the updated version of my annually published Handbook of Crimes and Terrorist Acts in Schools and Other Educational Institutions. In the published 5th edition, the main addition was the statistics for 2025. I can say right away that the past year set a kind of anti-record for all the previous 26 years of observations, so I even highlighted it in a separate section for comparison. In the entire history of observations since 2000, there has only been one similar sharp rise in all indicators, in 2014. In short, for example, the total number of crimes increased by more than 60% compared to 2024, and by more than 70% compared to the average for the previous five-year period (2020–2024). For crimes involving mass murder and terrorist acts, the increase was more than 43% compared to 2024, and more than 64% compared to the average for the previous five-year period. If we compare the number of people killed and injured (in absolute terms), the situation is similar.

These are global statistics. If we take the data for the US separately, the situation is as follows: in 2025, 32 crimes classified as serious and particularly serious were committed in US educational institutions, 16 of which were mass murders and terrorist acts. Compared to 2024, when there were 12 crimes classified as serious and particularly serious, including 7 crimes with signs of mass murder and terrorist acts.  If we take the average statistics for the previous five-year period from 2020 to 2024 (rounded up), the figures will be even lower:

- crimes classified as serious and particularly serious – 9;

- crimes with signs of mass murder and terrorist acts – 4.

However, one significant change did occur in 2025: 9 of the 16 incidents  with signs of mass murder took place not in schools but in universities, with this proportion (56.2%) of crimes in higher education institutions recorded for the first time. For comparison, in 2024 this proportion was 42.8%, and in 2023 it was 40%.

I cannot say for sure, but it is too early to talk about a decrease in the number of crimes; in fact, there has been no decrease, just a change in the principle of target selection. It is difficult to say exactly what this is due to, but the shift in threats from schools to higher education institutions has been observed worldwide. Between 2000 and 2024, it showed an average increase of 2.7%, and in 2025, the increase in this indicator was immediately more than 10%.

In essence, Dr. Kenneth S. Trump is right in saying that while it is not yet clear what exactly has influenced this situation and how it will develop further, it would be criminal to be complacent about the security of educational institutions.

author: Roman Grishin

#Schoolshootings #schoolsafety #schoolsecurity #DrKennethSTrump #K12 #K-12

Handbook of Crimes and Terrorist Acts in Schools and Other Educational Institutions, 5th edition

 

Dear readers and colleagues! I am pleased to announce that work on the fifth edition of the Reference Book has been completed. The file has already been posted on the website and is available for download. The new edition includes statistics for 2025, as well as additional data for previous periods, corrections of some errors and inaccuracies in previous editions, and a total of about 30 revisions and additions.

New data systematization and analytics tools

In addition to the existing ones, several new evaluation parameters have been added to the comparative and dynamic data analysis tables:

1. In the «Total victims» section, in addition to information about those killed and wounded, a subsection «Kidnapped» has been added, and the section «Involving hostage-taking» has been supplemented with a subsection «For the purpose of kidnapping.» This is related to crimes that occurred in November 2025 in Nigeria, where two organized, group, armed attacks on schools were carried out within four days of each other. In both cases, the aim of the attacks was to kidnap a large number of students and staff from these educational institutions (in both cases, more than 300 people were kidnapped, most of them children) for subsequent use as hostages in order to obtain ransom or satisfy political or religious demands from the authorities.

This section will include information on the number of people kidnapped at the time of the crime.

2. In category «2. Crimes falling under the criteria of mass murder and terrorist attacks,» an additional section «Suspect fled the scene» is created, with information about crimes where the suspect managed to leave the scene after committing the crime, and they were detained or found (in cases of suicide) outside the educational institution they attacked, or the crime remained unsolved.

Statistics in this section will allow (albeit not fully) an assessment of the level of protection of educational facilities from criminal and terrorist threats, as well as the responsiveness of law enforcement agencies. If a criminal was able to freely enter an educational institution, carry weapons, commit a crime, and then leave the scene unhindered. Such facts, and especially the increase in the proportion of such incidents (in comparative and dynamic analysis) in the total number of crimes, give grounds for certain conclusions. 

3. In category «2. Crimes falling under the criteria of mass murders and terrorist attacks,» an additional section «Suspect committed suicide (including attempts)» is created, with information about crimes in which the suspect committed suicide, either at the scene of the crime or within 24 hours after it.

A separate block of analytics on suicidal cases among suspects remains; this section is created solely for the convenience of tracking and comparing general statistical indicators. 

Indication of information about attempted crimes

This issue has been discussed repeatedly, especially after the release of version 4.0, with opinions both for and against this parameter being expressed. As a result of the discussions, it was decided to include this information in the category «2. Crimes that fall under the criteria of mass murder and terrorist attacks» starting in 2025. Only those incidents where the crime has reached the stage of immediate execution but, for reasons beyond the perpetrator's control, the perpetrator was unable to carry it through to completion will be included in the list.

For clarity, let's look at two examples of such attempts in 2025:

January 10, Kursk, Russia: an attempted attack on a secondary school using cold weapons and incendiary mixtures. The suspect, a former student of the school, put on a mask to hide his face and prepared weapons (a hammer, knife, and incendiary mixture), used the hammer to break a window, and entered the school premises. However, his actions attracted the attention of a security guard, who pressed the alarm button and called the police, and also began to pursue the suspect. The criminal dropped the bag with the weapons and incendiary mixture and fled the scene before he could harm anyone.

September 17, Ostrogozhsk, Russia: attempted attack on a secondary school with cold weapons. The suspect, a former student of the school, had previously posted threatening messages on his social media page, prepared weapons (a knife and a hammer), brought them to school, took them out, shouted verbal threats, and attempted to attack those around him, but was quickly neutralized by a teacher and security guard before he could harm anyone.

Such attempts will be included in the list and taken into account, but in cases where the crime was prevented during its preparation, such incidents will not be taken into account.

Information about the presence of security guards at educational facilities under attack

This is a good analytical tool, but unfortunately, at the moment, this information will only be published in part, mainly data on incidents that occurred in Russia, where this feature of such crimes is highlighted in media publications and official releases from law enforcement agencies.

Foreign media pay little attention to this circumstance, and it is rarely mentioned in publications and releases. I tried to make inquiries myself, but they all went unanswered. I do not know the reasons for this, especially since this information is not classified.

Statistics for 2025, tools for data analysis

Due to the fact that five-year periods are used for comparative and dynamic data analysis, and in 2025 such a period is just beginning, three new analytical tools are introduced for the convenience of visual representation of the situation, to compare statistics for the current year:

1. with the same period of the previous year, i.e., in this case, with 2024;

2. with the average indicator of the previous period, in this case, with the period 2020–2024; to calculate this indicator, the arithmetic mean value for each estimated parameter for the five-year period is used. Example: the average number of crimes committed with the use of firearms in the period 2020–2024, we take the values for 5 years, 2020 – 3, 2021 – 8, 2022 – 21, 2023 – 15, 2024 – 14. We add them up to get 61, divide by the number of years – 5 – to get 12 (if the value after the decimal point is 5 or less, we round down; if it is 6 or more, we round up, in this case to 2). The average percentage of such crimes is calculated in the same way.

3. With the average value for the entire reporting period starting in 2000, the calculation of the indicator here is similar to the calculation for the previous period.

This will be presented in the form of a table, where you can clearly see the dynamics of the situation for each individual indicator.

That's all for the changes and additions.

As new data comes in, work will begin on additions to the current edition and, at the same time, data collection for the sixth edition. I would appreciate any help in working on the new edition. You can find out how to do this in the final part of the reference book, in the section «Prospects for new editions.»

My goal is to create a useful, reliable, informative, easy-to-use, and, most importantly, publicly available reference and analytical tool for researchers and specialists in ensuring the security of schools and other educational institutions from threats of various types and nature.

Once again, I would like to thank everyone who helped me collect new information, clarify and correct previously published data, form and edit sections, and do other work on the reference book.

Sincerely.

Author and editor-in-chief of the project – Roman Grishin

 

#SchoolSafety #SchoolSecurity #SafetySchools #school #kindergarten #university #college #analytics #crime #terrorism #handbook #statistics #criminology #security #safety

Announcement of upcoming publications

Dear readers and colleagues.

In the near future (planned date January 14), the fifth, expanded edition of the «Reference Book of Crimes and Terrorist Acts in Schools and Other Educational Institutions» will be published. There will be quite a few changes in the new edition, so a separate article will be published along with the new edition, where all the new features will be described in more detail.

Technical editing of the latest amendments is currently being completed, and as soon as they are finalized,  the file with the new version will be posted on the main

portal website and will be available for download.

Many thanks to everyone who helped collect new information, clarify and correct previously published data, create and edit sections, and perform other work on the reference book.

Sincerely,

Author and Editor-in-Chief of the project - Roman Grishin

#analytics #reference #statistics #SchoolSafety #SchoolSecurity  #School_Safety #SchoolSooting #School_Sooting #Handbook

Safety of educational and childcare facilities in 2025, preliminary results, new threats, forecast for 2026

Note: it should be borne in mind that the author lives and works in Russia, so in this article, he considers the situation on the example of his country. Measures to ensure the safety of schools, other educational institutions and places with a mass stay of children that he proposes are developed by him for use in Russia, taking into account the existing law enforcement system and the situation there.

Work is currently nearing completion on an updated version of the Handbook of Crimes and Terrorist Acts in Schools and Other Educational Institutions, which will include some corrections and additions for previous periods, as well as statistics for 2025. Taking into account the opinions and wishes expressed by colleagues, the form for submitting certain statistical data will be supplemented. I will provide more details about the new edition of the Handbook in an accompanying article to its publication.

Some preliminary conclusions about the security situation in schools and other educational and childcare institutions can already be drawn.

1. The negative trend continues.

Even for the incomplete year of 2025, crime rates have increased compared to both 2024 and the average for the most recent period (2020-2024). The increase is observed both in the total number of serious and particularly serious crimes and in incidents with signs of mass murders and terrorist acts.

2. The level of security in educational institutions remains low.

The vast majority of crimes are committed directly on the premises of educational institutions using weapons or explosive devices. This circumstance clearly indicates that the criminals entered the premises of the educational institution unhindered, carried weapons with them, and carried out their planned crime.

3. Using teenagers to carry out terrorist acts.

So far, this phenomenon is more common in Russia. Teenagers, following instructions from anonymous «curators» in messengers and social networks, commit arson or mine energy facilities, transport, cars, and police premises, as well as other law enforcement agencies. There are no exact statistics, but according to Russian media reports, 47 such crimes were committed in the first quarter of 2025. The main motives for committing these crimes are threats of violence, blackmail, and the promise of financial reward.

Although most of these crimes are committed in Russia (although there are isolated cases in other countries), this practice is rapidly spreading to other countries. Terrorist organizations and criminal communities are quick learners and closely monitor such «cutting-edge criminal experience».

Earlier, in my articles on PMC Ryodan and Red Dolphin, I expressed my opinion and made predictions that such crimes would be committed more often, that these cases were only a test and assessment of the possibilities of using teenagers, both individually and in groups, to commit crimes and terrorist acts with the possibility of anonymous, remote control of their actions. Unfortunately, as practice has shown, this experiment has been successful.

4. Dangerous precedents have been set in Nigeria.

In November 2025, within a span of four days, two organized, group, armed attacks on schools were carried out in Nigeria. In both cases, the aim of the attacks was to take hostages.

In the first case, on November 17 in the city of Magha, during an attack on a school, the deputy director was killed and a security guard was wounded, and 25 students were taken hostage.

In the second case, on November 21, in the city of Papiri, there were no deaths or injuries during the attack on the school, but more than 300 students and 12 teachers were taken hostage.

These cities are located in border states, less than 200 kilometers apart. After the first kidnapping, the Nigerian government launched a police operation and tightened security measures. However, this did not prevent the criminals from carrying out an even more daring attack four days later and taking 10 times more hostages.

Similar attacks have been carried out in Nigeria before, but not on such a scale. The last similar case (in terms of the number of people kidnapped) occurred there 11 years ago, in April 2014, when militants from a terrorist group kidnapped 276 high school students, 94 of whom have still not been released.

All this indicates that educational institutions have been and remain an easily accessible target for criminals and terrorists. They perceive children as a resource (a tool) with which they can commit crimes and terrorist acts with impunity, while remaining hundreds and thousands of kilometers away.

Forecast: The current situation clearly shows that the existing system for containing this threat is not working, and no effective system for actively countering it has yet been created. This means that in 2026, we should not expect any positive changes; at best, the situation will remain at its current level.

Author and Editor-in-Chief of the project - Roman Grishin.

#schoolsafety #crime #terrorism #victims #threats #safety #security #children #schools #college #kindergarten #university #statistics #summarizingresults #forecast #future

A unified approach to assessing safety in educational institutions

Note: it should be borne in mind that the author lives and works in Russia, so in this article, he considers the situation on the example of his country. Measures to ensure the safety of schools, other educational institutions and places with a mass stay of children that he proposes are developed by him for use in Russia, taking into account the existing law enforcement system and the situation there.

Often, after another tragedy, in expert discussions addressing the protection of educational institutions, participants use the term «security level» with various adjectives such as high, low, satisfactory, unsatisfactory, compliant, minimal, etc. However, the question arises: what exactly do they mean by this concept? What can this level be, how is it determined, and what factors influence it?
After studying publicly available information on these issues, I concluded that there is currently no unified (or even widely accepted) system for formally assessing the security level of educational facilities. Most reports containing such evaluations and conclusions are based on the personal opinions of the specialists who prepared them, relying on compliance with regulatory documents, as well as numerous guidelines, recommendations, and informational letters from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Security Service, the National Guard, and other executive and local government bodies. These documents mostly contain general, and often vague, wording, making it difficult to judge how accurate and objective the conclusions drawn from them are.

After reviewing publicly available foreign practices, I also found nothing concrete; the situation on this issue appears to be similar there, despite the clear need for such a tool.
I am not a proponent of excessive standardization in security matters, but I consider this area an exception. Due to the absence of an assessment system that could, based on formal criteria, objectively calculate the security level of an educational facility with minimal influence from the «human factor»—and since I need such a tool in my work—I decided to try creating it myself.

The table presented in this article is intended to assess the security level of an educational institution against criminal and terrorist threats. The evaluation is based on 64 criteria, covering:

- Characteristics of the educational facility’s territory and location,

- Buildings and structures,

- Presence of physical security and its specifics,

- Technical security measures and their capabilities,

- Additional active and passive protective measures.

Each item, if present and—just as importantly—fully operational, is assigned the number of points indicated in the table. If absent or non-functional (fully or partially), it receives 0 points, and so on for all items. The points are then summed to produce a final score. In addition to the total score, there are factors that negatively affect the final assessment, all of which are outlined in the «Final Score Calculation Formula» section.
When completed, the table clearly shows the level of protection of the educational institution against criminal and terrorist threats, its capabilities, and, most importantly, obvious shortcomings and vulnerabilities in the security system. Based on the resulting score, measures and costs for improving the facility’s protection level can be planned.
Furthermore, using annual assessment data for one or multiple facilities, comparative and trend analysis can easily be conducted, clearly evaluating the situation in this area for a specific school, city, region, or even country over a given period—comparing both overall scores and individual indicators or sections. This is a convenient and, most importantly, objective tool for monitoring the situation. A decrease in the score, even by 1 point compared to the previous period, will immediately indicate a worsening situation and the need for action.

Author’s note: I believe that once completed, this table should be classified as at least «For Official Use Only» (or preferably with a higher restriction level), with very limited access granted to its contents. This information is too critical, and if it falls into the hands of someone planning a mass killing or terrorist attack, it could become a «lethal weapon,» significantly increasing the number of potential victims...

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Announcement of upcoming publications

Dear readers and colleagues.

An article entitled «A Unified Approach to Assessing the Safety Level of Educational Facilities» will be published shortly (planned date: July 2).

In this publication, the author argues that there is currently no unified (or even widely used) system for assessing the safety level of educational institutions based on formal criteria. Most conclusions with similar assessments and findings are based on the personal opinions of the experts who compiled them, based on compliance with regulatory requirements, as well as a large number of various methodological guidelines, recommendations, and other documents containing mostly general and often vague wording.

The author proposes his own development – a table for assessing the overall level of security of an educational institution against criminal and terrorist threats, based on 64 criteria. Using this table should make it possible to objectively calculate the level of security of a facility based on formal criteria, with minimal influence from the «human factor», as well as to more easily and quickly conduct security audits and analyze changes in the security system of educational institutions, both in a single municipality and across an entire region or country.

Sincerely.

Author and editor-in-chief of the project

#SchoolSafety #SafetyLevel #SafetyAssessment #school #university #kindergarten #technicalcollege #university #institute #crime #terrorism #analytics #SafetyStandard