Though authorities say the recent spate of school attacks aren't connected, the horrifying events have become entwined online. Searches for "school shootings" (+573%), "high school shootings" and "recent school shootings" have all surged. "Columbine" (+172%) and "columbine shooting" (+187%) have made an unwelcome return to Buzz. And interest in "gun control" has nearly doubled over the past seven days.

It began last week when a 53-year-old stormed Colorado's Platte Canyon High School, took six girls hostage, and murdered one young woman before killing himself. The day after, "colorado school shooting" rose 1,087% online. Yesterday, searches on the school were up 691% and landed in our top 10 movers.

Just two days later, on Friday, September 29, a 15-year-old named Eric Hainstock shot and killed his principal in Cazenovia, Wisconsin. Searches on "wisconsin school shooting" jumped immediately. Queries on the town and teen soared from zero into the thousands.

And then came Monday. A middle-aged man beseiged an Amish one-room schoolhouse in Pennsylvania. By the end of the terrifying ordeal, five girls were murdered and the assailant dead from suicide. Demand for background on the insular religious community drove searches on "amish" up 3,731%. Queries on "wgal" (+1,242%), "lancaster pa" (+247%), and "map of pennsylvania" (+163%) also surged.

Now, as officials extend their investigations of this week's agonizing events, we will keep a weary eye on the news—and the Buzz—for updates.