Suspect Detained in South Dakota School Custodian Shooting; At Least 31 Killed and 56 Injured at Schools in 2018

Correction appended May 16

The 74 will be tracking gun-related injuries and deaths at schools throughout 2018. Bookmark this page for the latest reports, or sign up to receive updates straight to your inbox via The 74 Newsletter.

Police say they have detained a suspect in a late-night shooting in early May at a reservation school in northeast South Dakota that injured a 19-year-old custodian.

The shooting occurred at about 10 p.m. on May 3 at the Enemy Swim Day School just north of Waubay on the Lake Traverse Reservation. Authorities say the custodian was shot in the chest outside the school. The victim was transported to a local hospital. Authorities detained the suspect on May 9.

Sisseton-Wahpeton Police Chief Gary Gaikowski did not identify the suspect, who has not been formally charged with a crime. Gaikowski didn’t provide details about a potential motive for the shooting.

In 2018, at least 31 people have been killed and 56 have been injured due to school shootings. Learn more about each incident with our interactive map:

This map includes school shootings that took place on campus where a person was injured or killed. Incidents resulting in injury are labeled blue, while incidents resulting in death are labeled red. The most recent incident is indicated with a larger icon. Click on the icons to see details about each incident.

Behind the numbers:

Nationally, nearly 1,300 children (17 years old and younger) die from gunshot wounds each year and 5,790 are treated for injuries, according to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. While unintentional firearm deaths and homicides of children have decreased in recent years, suicides have spiked.

Among child gun deaths between 2012 and 2014, 53 percent were homicides, 38 percent were suicides, and 6 percent were unintentional.

Less than 3 percent of youth homicides and less than 1 percent of youth suicides occur at school, according to a recent report by the National Center for Education Statistics.

If we’ve missed a school incident you think should be included in our coverage, please send an email to info@the74million.org, and bookmark this page for the latest reports of incidents involving the discharging of a firearm on school property that results in a wound or fatality.

Correction: The original headline to this story incorrectly stated that the suspect in this case had been arrested. The suspect was detained.

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