BUT THERE IS AN EPIDEMIC OF FEAR. There Is No Epidemic of School Shootings. The media and the White House’s fearmonger-in-chief are spouting deceptive numbers to scare people into believing that mass school shootings are commonplace in America. They’re not. The odds of a child dying in a mass school shooting are about the same as the odds of being struck by lightning or dying in an earthquake. Such numbers, of course, are no consolation to the grieving families in Texas, but neither is the frenzy to manipulate these tragedies for ratings and political gain.