What has researchers baffled is that there are three different forms of the Omicron virus and they look completely different from one another. In fact, the first and second form of the Omicron variant don’t look like anything researchers.......

School Safety: All year at The 74, senior writer Mark Keierleber has been tracking injuries on school campuses caused by gunfire. (You can see the running tally of incidents right here at our 2018 School Shooting Series.) Earlier this week, Mark offered his final recap of the 12-month effort: Over the course of the year, firearm incidents took the lives of at least 49 people and injured at least 88 others. Reaction to school shootings reached a fever pitch in 2018, prompting an unprecedented response from lawmakers, school officials and students who said they had had enough. But school shootings are statistically rare. So why do they successfully drive the policy debate surrounding American gun violence and school safety? In a Baltimore conference room filled with school-based police officers intent on stopping the next school shooting, psychologist Peter Langman offered a perspective that in 2018 seemed underappreciated, if not profound. “When you get out of your car and walk into the school building, you’ve just gone from the most dangerous place you’ll be all day to the safest place,” Langman, an expert on the psychology of school shooters, said during a recent National Association of School Resource Officers conference This year, however, it was the threat of school shootings, not their statistical rarity, that rose to the top of Americans’ minds. People, Langman said, are far more likely to die in a traffic accident than a school shooting. According to an analysis of such incidents by The 74, at least 50 people were killed and 88 injured in firearm incidents at K-12 schools and colleges in 2018 Just a few weeks into 2018, the conversation about gun violence in America’s schools poignantly re-emerged when a gunman walked into a rural Kentucky high school and opened fire, killing two people and injuring 18 others. Still, the worst was yet to come. Just weeks later, a gunman killed 17 people at a school in Parkland, Florida — one of the deadliest school shootings in American history. Then in May, 10 people were shot dead at a school in Santa Fe, Texas. The response was unprecedented. Thousands of students across the country marched out of their classrooms to demand action from lawmakers. Student survivors from Parkland became household names in their advocacy for stricter firearm rules. “Part of us died that day,” Ilan Alhadeff, the father of one Parkland shooting victim, said after the tragedy. “My daughter was shot that day in the heart, the spine, in the femur and artery. If she lived, she would have been paralyzed for life. No parent should have to deal with this again. No family DONATE News Opinion Pandemic Analysis Videos Newsfeed TRENDING TOPICS Coronavirus EDlection 2020 4Fams Keeping it 100 The 74 Interview Union Report Big Picture Personalized Learning MORE FROM T74 Newsletter Jobs Supporters About Contact The 74’s Code of Ethics ©2022 The 74 Media Inc. Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Newsfeed2018 Gun Violence at America's Schools Lessons From Our Year Tracking School Shootings: Students More Likely to Be Hit by Lightning Than Shot in Class, Yet Fear of Mass Violence Is Driving Policy By MARK KEIERLEBER | December 18, 2018 TALKING POINTS We tracked school shootings in 2018. Here’s what we learned #schoolsafety At least 50 killed and 88 injured by guns at schools in 2018 #secureourschools Mass school shootings this year drove unprecedented calls for change. The tragedies are devastating — but also statistically rare In a Baltimore conference room filled with school-based police officers intent on stopping the next school shooting, psychologist Peter Langman offered a perspective that in 2018 seemed underappreciated, if not profound. “When you get out of your car and walk into the school building, you’ve just gone from the most dangerous place you’ll be all day to the safest place,” Langman, an expert on the psychology of school shooters, said during a recent National Association of School Resource Officers conference. This year, however, it was the threat of school shootings, not their statistical rarity, that rose to the top of Americans’ minds. People, Langman said, are far more likely to die in a traffic accident than a school shooting. According to an analysis of such incidents by The 74, at least 50 people were killed and 88 injured in firearm incidents at K-12 schools and colleges in 2018. Just a few weeks into 2018, the conversation about gun violence in America’s schools poignantly re-emerged when a gunman walked into a rural Kentucky high school and opened fire, killing two people and injuring 18 others. Still, the worst was yet to come. Just weeks later, a gunman killed 17 people at a school in Parkland, Florida — one of the deadliest school shootings in American history. Then in May, 10 people were shot dead at a school in Santa Fe, Texas. Stay informed. Invest in independent journalism. And help The 74 make an impact. DONATE NOW! The response was unprecedented. Thousands of students across the country marched out of their classrooms to demand action from lawmakers. Student survivors from Parkland became household names in their advocacy for stricter firearm rules. “Part of us died that day,” Ilan Alhadeff, the father of one Parkland shooting victim, said after the tragedy. “My daughter was shot that day in the heart, the spine, in the femur and artery. If she lived, she would have been paralyzed for life. No parent should have to deal with this again. No family.” Lawmakers passed a bevy of new laws mandating a range of responses — from hiring more school-based police to “red flag” laws that temporarily strip firearms from people who present a danger to themselves or others. School districts across the country opened their wallets, spending education resources on surveillance cameras and other tech-driven security. In a draft report, a state panel investigating the Parkland shooting found several ways in which school and police officials failed to avert the tragedy. Sheriff’s deputies didn’t rush into the school to stop the gunman, according to the report, and school staff left doors unlocked and did not call a “code red” alarm quickly enough. School safety even worked its way into the 2018 midterm elections and may have affected the outcome of several races. Inside the $3 Billion School Security Industry: Companies Market Sophisticated Technology to ‘Harden’ Campuses, but Will It Make Us Safe? Throughout 2018, The 74 tracked firearm incidents on K-12 school and college campuses that resulted in injury or death. More than half of the injuries and deaths can be attributed to just three incidents: The shootings in Marshall County, Kentucky; Parkland; and Santa Fe. The shootings in Parkland and Santa Fe were the only ones to result in more than two fatalities. While heated debate persists over the precise definition of a “school shooting,” we found the firearm incidents varied significantly. For example, five students and one school resource officer died as the result of suicide. Other incidents occurred during afterschool sports events: One person was killed and six were injured in shootings that unfolded during three separate football games, and another was injured during a track meet. Seven of the incidents unfolded in school parking lots. Several were reportedly accidental, while others stemmed from fights that escalated. Though a majority of incidents took place at high schools, some involved younger children. Current or former students were identified as perpetrators in about half of the incidents.