Indiana schools are confronting the ripple effects of gun violence in surrounding neighborhoods.

BY: CASEY SMITH, The Capital Chronicle

Gunfire has echoed near Indiana’s K-12 campuses more than 2,700 times over the past decade — a trend that researchers, child advocates, and school safety experts say demands expanded training, stronger trauma support systems, and greater investment in community-based resources.

Data compiled by The Trace’s Gun Violence Data Hub found at least 2,771 shootings within earshot — about four city blocks — of an Indiana school between 2015 and 2024. The data includes traditional public, charter and private schools.

These “school-adjacent” shootings don’t often occur on school grounds, but instead unfolded during or shortly after school hours in surrounding communities, forcing school leaders to cope with trauma that starts beyond their fences but often ripples into classrooms.

Data shows gun violence disproportionately affects majority-Black campuses in the urban core. The five Hoosier schools most affected — all serving majority-Black students — have each endured more than 40 nearby shootings in the past 10 years alone.

“Just hearing a gunshot in your neighborhood, knowing that violence is nearby, changes how young people interact with the world,” said Lauren Magee, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine. “These aren’t isolated moments — they ripple through communities, through school culture, and into the homes of every student who walks past a memorial on their way to class.”

Neighborhoods most affected

The Trace data shows most shootings are concentrated in a handful of Indiana cities — especially Indianapolis, which accounts for more than half of the incidents recorded during the 10-year span. Other heavily impacted areas include Gary, Fort Wayne and South Bend.

Within those cities, several schools were more affected by repeated gunfire.

Indianapolis’s Brookside Elementary School 54, for example, was within four blocks of at least 48 separate shootings between 2015 and 2024, topping the list of schools statewide.

Several other schools saw similar numbers, including Gary Middle College with adjacent 45 shootings; Holy Angels Catholic School, in Indianapolis, also with 45 shootings; 21st Century Charter School of Gary with 43 shootings; and Ralph Waldo Emerson School, in Indianapolis, additionally with 43 adjacent shootings.

At least 22 schools were within earshot of 20 or more gunshots in the 10-year period, according to the data. Nearly 50 Hoosier schools experienced at least 15 nearby shootings.

“But these aren’t just isolated incidents,” said Meisha Wide, executive director of the Children’s Policy and Law Initiative of Indiana. “We’re looking at systemic issues where families are struggling to meet basic needs, and youth are often unsupervised after school.”

She pointed to The Trace’s data showing that many shootings occur in the after-school window — between 6 p.m. and midnight — when students are leaving school, in transit, or unwinding in their neighborhoods, and when students often lack structured activities and adult supervision.

Wide emphasized, too, that communities experiencing more frequent shootings are disproportionately affected by profound economic challenges.

“If you’re not able to meet your basic needs of finances, this results in finding alternative ways to survive,” Wide explained. She noted that poverty, eviction, and limited job opportunities compound cycles of violence in these neighborhoods.

“It’s deeper than just the proximity of the school,” Wide continued. “It’s going to require pulling back and having a broader lens to understand what resources are like in that area.”

‘Preparedness’ key for schools

Julie Quesenbery, a school resource officer in Columbus and president of the Indiana School Resource Officers Association, warned that preparedness is “critical” when violence occurs near a campus.

“A plan is only so good if people don’t know what’s in the crisis plan,” she said. “When it’s time to perform, the time to prepare has passed.”

Quesenbery stressed the importance of clear protocols for lockdowns, communication, and reunification. She emphasized the need for controlled building access, well-marked evacuation routes, and routine training for all staff.

Indiana law currently requires schools to conduct at least one manmade disaster drill each semester and maintain a safety plan. The Indiana Department of Education and Department of Homeland Security also recommend schools form safety committees, work closely with local law enforcement, and conduct active shooter training. Still, implementation varies widely between districts.

Quesenbery said “effective” school safety requires a collaborative approach involving the entire school ecosystem — not just officers, but teachers, administrators, families and community partners.

“Safety is not just up to me, it’s not just up to you, it’s up to all of us,” she said.

She also underscored the significance of mental health services and community partnerships in addressing and preventing violence near schools.

“We can’t just react to the problem,” Quesenbery said. “We have to be part of the solution.”

Wide added that many schools lack the staff needed to support students in the wake of trauma.

She noted that school counselors and social workers are also in short supply. The student-to-counselor ratio in Indiana — last reported at about 497 to 1 — is among the worst in the nation.

The American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of 250 students per school counselor.

“There’s just not enough staff to meet the needs of kids who are experiencing this kind of repeated trauma,” Wide said. “We need more mental health practitioners in schools, and we need them to be culturally responsive and trained in trauma-informed care.”

Beyond the school fence

Experts emphasize that while these shootings don’t occur inside school buildings, their psychological toll can be “incredibly” significant.

Magee’s research found that students who are chronically exposed to community violence — whether they witness it, hear it, or know someone affected — show heightened signs of trauma, depression and behavioral struggles.

“When we ask youth about their safety, what they talk about isn’t always school-specific — it’s walking to the bus, or playing outside, or scrolling social media and seeing another friend killed,” Magee said. “It creates a chronic stress environment.”

In a recent study co-authored by Magee, which examined firearm-related injuries among youth in Indianapolis, she found that adolescent firearm injuries most commonly occurred in public settings, such as streets, parks or near schools.

Although few incidents took place inside school buildings, many happened near schools or along routes students commonly travel.

“One of the most important findings was that firearm violence doesn’t only affect the immediate victim,” Magee said. “The psychological and academic impacts extend to their peers, families, teachers — and school climate more broadly.”

Her research also found correlations between proximity to gun violence and negative academic outcomes — including lower test scores and increased disciplinary action.

ILEARN results for schools with higher numbers of adjacent shootings, for example, were below statewide averages.

“We’re asking kids to sit in algebra class after witnessing — or hearing — a shooting,” Magee said. “It’s untenable.”

Her research further concluded that Black youth and families are disproportionately exposed to firearm injury and its ripple effects.

That inequity is echoed in a new, separate report from the Violence Policy Center that ranked Indiana eighth in the nation for Black homicide victimization, with a rate of 39.7 per 100,000 in 2023, the most recent year with available data.

Indiana recorded 290 Black homicide victims that year. Most, about 90%, were shot.

Forty of those killed were under 18 years old, and most were killed by someone they knew. The majority of incidents were not tied to other felonies — they were arguments, disputes or community violence turned fatal, according to the report.

Working towards solutions

Wide’s organization, CPLI, has launched programs like the Youth Justice Leadership Initiative to encourage and assist youth to become advocates in their communities by focusing on violence prevention, peer support and civic engagement.

CPLI’s recently-published best practices report recommends broader community-school partnerships — including engaging businesses to provide mentorships or third-space opportunities, like recreation centers or co-working spaces for teens.

“Often, these shootings are happening after school, during a gap in supervision and support,” Wide said. “Caregivers may be working second shifts, and young people are left with few safe places to go. We see the consequences of that.”

“There are so many vacant buildings in these neighborhoods — why not turn them into youth hubs?” she added. “We need to invest in alternatives to the street.”

Wide and other advocates additionally urged policymakers to look beyond school buildings and consider “the wider neighborhood context.”

“It’s not just about what’s happening inside school walls,” Wide said. “We need a broader lens that sees the whole ecosystem. These are intergenerational issues. And if we don’t meet them with intergenerational solutions, we’ll keep seeing the same patterns.”

She pointed to policies like better tracking of school absences as a step in the right direction.

“You can’t solve truancy if you don’t know why a student isn’t in school,” she said. “Sometimes it’s violence, sometimes it’s poverty, sometimes it’s caregiving responsibilities. But all of that needs to be visible to respond to it.”

Still, Magee cautioned that impact is limited without changes to gun policy itself.

“We can invest in trauma-informed practices, and we should,” she said. “But if we don’t also address the upstream causes — how guns are accessed, how they’re trafficked, how youth are being pulled into violence — then we’re asking schools to clean up a mess they didn’t create.”