THE DEADLIEST SCHOOL MASSACRES IN HUMAN HISTORY

NANPING SCHOOL MASSACRE, CHINA

(DEATH TOLL: 8)

The first of the 2010 Chinese School Attacks, The Nanping

School Massacre occurred at Nanping City Experimental

Elementary School in the city of Nanping, China, on March

23rd 2010. Zheng Minsheng, who had previously worked

as a community doctor, used a knife to kill 8 children

and seriously wound 5 others. Minsheng was sentenced

to death and executed by shooting.

MERCAZ HARAV MASSACRE, ISRAEL

(DEATH TOLL: 8)

The Mercaz HaRav Massacre was a mass shooting attack that

occurred on March 6th 2008 at the Mercaz HaRavyeshiva,

a religious school in Jerusalem, Israel. A lone Palestinian 

gunman shot 8 students and injured 11 more during the attack.

The perpetrator was later shot by one of the students and an

off-duty Israel defence forces captain who fought back

using their personal guns.

OSAKA SCHOOL MASSACRE, JAPAN

(DEATH TOLL: 8)

The Osaka School Massacre took place on June 8th 2001 at 

Ikeda Elementary School in the Osaka Prefecture, Japan. In the

attack, a 37-year-old former janitor Mamoru Takuma armed with

a kitchen knife killed 8 children and seriously wounded 13 other

children and 2 teachers. Later diagnosed with numerous mental

disorders, Takuma was convicted and sentenced to death 

by hanging.

RUZHOU SCHOOL MASSACRE, CHINA

(DEATH TOLL: 9)

The Ruzhou School Massacre occurred at the Number Two High

School in Ruzhou, China on November 26th 2004. On that day,

Yan Yanming entered the school´s dormitory and stabbed 12 boys,

killing 9 of them. Yanming was arrested hours later after he

failed to commit suicide because his mother had reported his

location to the Ruzhou police. Yanming was sentenced to

death and executed.

RED LAKE SHOOTINGS, USA

(DEATH TOLL: 9)

The Red Lake Shootings occurred in two places in Red Lake,

Minnesota on March 21st 2005. That morning, 16-year-old 

Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather (local police officer)

and his grandfather’s girlfriend at their home. After taking

his grandfather’s police weapons, he drove to Red Lake

Senior High School, where he shot and killed 7 people and

wounded 5 others. After the police arrived, Weise

exchanged gunfire with them. He was wounded and then

committed suicide in a vacant classroom.

UMPQUA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SHOOTING, USA

(DEATH TOLL: 9)

One of the most recent shootings on the list, the Umpqua

Community College shooting occurred on October 1st 2015

 at the UCC campus near Roseburg, Oregon. Christopher

Harper-Mercer, a 26-year-old enrolled at the school, killed an

assistant professor and 8 students in a classroom. Up to

9 others were injured. After a brief shootout with the police,

Harper-Mercer was wounded and committed suicide by

shooting himself in the head.

SHENGSHUI KINDERGARTEN ATTACK, CHINA

(DEATH TOLL: 9)

On May 12th 2010, an attacker named Wu Huanming killed 7

children, 2 adults and injured 11 others with a cleaver at a

kindergarten in Hanzhong, the Shaanxi Province, China in an

incident known as the Shengshui Kindergarten Attack. The

attacker, who was the landlord of the school, later

committed suicide at his house.

KAUHAJOKI SCHOOL SHOOTING, FINLAND

(DEATH TOLL: 10)

One of just three school shootings in the history of Finland, the

Kauhajoki School Shooting occurred on September 23rd 2008

at the Seinajoki University of Applied Sciences in Western

Finland. The gunman, 22-year-old student Matti Juhani Saari,

shot and fatally injured 10 people with a gun, before shooting

himself in the head. He died a few hours later in Tampere

University Hospital. Saari was a second-year student in a

Bachelor of Hospitality Management degree program at

the university.

COLOGNE SCHOOL MASSACRE, GERMANY

(DEATH TOLL: 10)

The second oldest school massacre on the list, the Cologne

School Massacre was a gruesome mass murder that occurred

at a Catholic elementary school in Cologne, West Germany

on June 11th 1964. The perpetrator, Walter Seifert, attacked

the people at the school with a home-made flamethrower

and a lance, killing 8 students, 2 teachers, and wounding

22 others. When police arrived at the scene he fled from

the school compound and poisoned himself. He was

brought to a hospital where he died the same evening.