Campus Violence Up Sharply in Last Two Decades

A government report finds that targeted violence on college campuses, from serious assaults to the mass shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007, is up sharply over the last two decades.

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The study by the FBI, Secret Service and Education Department found that targeted campus violence is hardly a new phenomenon, citing for example a campus murder-suicide in 1909.

The incidence of such violence rose from 40 cases in the 1980s to 79 in the 1990s and 83 since 2000.

The report says the cause for the increase is unknown, though it noted a dramatic rise in college student enrollment in the past 20 years.

Targeted violence refers to cases where attackers select a specific victim beforehand — as opposed to violence that breaks out spontaneously, such as from an argument.