Shattered Assumptions: The Leader Experience of School Shootings documents the story of the men and women in four schools in North America where extreme violence occurred. Based on in-depth interviews, this work provides an intimate view of what it was like to lead in the aftermath of a school shooting. School shootings made a significant impact on individuals, the school and the larger community. School leaders felt tremendous responsibility to restore order and promote healing, although they had no models upon which to base decisions. One outcome for leaders was that they experienced themselves in new ways. The shooting and it's aftermath shattered their assumptions about their sense of safety and in often changed their world view. The research reveals a broad range of individual responses that will enlighten the general reader and educators, mental health workers, policy makers, and researchers--especially those interested in phenomenology.