Study finds gunfire occurs near many DC schools

Click here for an interactive map showing instances of gunfire over the 2011-12 school year. More than half occurred within 1,000 feet of a public school.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new study shows that large numbers of District of Columbia school students could hear gunfire near their school buildings during the 2011-2012 school year.

The study released Wednesday by the Urban Institute examined District public and charter schools that are in areas covered by gunfire-detection technology. It found that 54 percent of those schools had at least one gunshot fired within 1,000 feet of the school during the year.

A handful of schools were close to a disproportionate amount of gun violence. Nearly half the gunfire occurred within 1,000 feet of just 9 percent of schools, and four schools had 9 to 11 incidents within 500 feet. Those four schools are in three different neighborhoods, including two in Columbia Heights in northwest Washington.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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