| 2017 Aztec High School shooting | |
|---|---|
 Aztec High School in 2008 | |
  Aztec High School Aztec High School (New Mexico)  Aztec High School Aztec High School (the United States) | |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 36°49′15″N 107°59′26″W / 36.82083°N 107.99056°W |
| Date | December 7, 2017 8:04 – 8:16 a.m. (UTC–7) |
| Target | Students and staff at Aztec High School |
Attack type | Shooting, murder-suicide |
| Weapon | Glock 19 Gen 4 9mm pistol |
| Deaths | 3 (including the perpetrator) |
| Perpetrator | William Atchison |
| Defender | Katie Potter |
| Motive | Disputed |
On December 7, 2017, a school shooting occurred at Aztec High School in Aztec, New Mexico, United States. The perpetrator, William Atchison, a 21-year-old former student of Aztec High, entered the school disguised as a student and hid in the school restroom. He was discovered by student Francisco Fernandez, who he then shot and killed, before killing another student in the hallway. He attempted to enter a classroom, but a teacher barricaded the door with a couch, preventing him from entering. Atchison then killed himself.
Atchison was prolific online, including on neo-Nazi and white nationalist websites. In March 2016, he was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for threatening to commit a mass shooting. The same year, he was in contact with the eventual perpetrator of the 2016 Munich shooting, who killed nine people in Germany later that year. The FBI dropped their investigation after they determined that Atchison, at the time he was investigated, did not own a firearm, and after he convinced them that his threats were merely "trolling". He bought the gun used in the shooting in November 2017.
The motive for the shooting is disputed, with the Southern Poverty Law Center arguing the shooting was motivated by far-right extremism and incel ideology, while the sheriff's office stated that there was no evidence the shooting was related to Atchison's views, instead arguing that he had personal problems and wanted to kill people for fame. After the shooting, the mother of one of the victims sued the FBI, the Aztec police, and the school district in two lawsuits for failing to prevent the attack; the lawsuit against the FBI was dismissed. The German police were separately criticized for failing to investigate the tie after the Munich shooting. The state of New Mexico authorized additional funding for school safety in response to the shooting.