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School shootings and prevention

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posted on Jan, 17 2013 @ 12:40 PM
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Face it there is not a single person who is not affected in one way or another by the tragedies that can strike at any moment on our most vulnerable and innocent citizens, students and faculty of schools from College level to elementary.

In the aftermath of these terrible disasters so many questions arise as to whether these fateful events could have somehow been stopped or thwarted. It is a natural phenomena to want to place the blame on the criminal minds responsible and to discover how to identify these individuals yet there is unfortunately no simple answers for discovering either how to stop an act of violence, nor clearly identify suspects prior to these life changing events.

One such attempt was written in collaboration by The Department of Education in association with the United States Secret Service. It is called The safe school Initiative.

Although a very lengthy report I will attempt to summarize their findings and perhaps help others at this time of confusion to make sense of a subject that is otherwise one of the most open ended debates currently being discussed for a multitude of reasons both present as well as for ongoing or future concerns.

This final report and its findings were written and documented cases between the years 1974 thru 2000. Now I realize many changes have happened in the years following this extensive investigation including but not limited to these documented cases:

Feb. 2, 1996
Moses Lake, Wash. Two students and one teacher killed, one other wounded when 14-year-old Barry Loukaitis opened fire on his algebra class.
March 13, 1996
Dunblane, Scotland 16 children and one teacher killed at Dunblane Primary School by Thomas Hamilton, who then killed himself. 10 others wounded in attack.
Feb. 19, 1997
Bethel, Alaska Principal and one student killed, two others wounded by Evan Ramsey, 16.
March 1997
Sanaa, Yemen Eight people (six students and two others) at two schools killed by Mohammad Ahman al-Naziri.
Oct. 1, 1997
Pearl, Miss. Two students killed and seven wounded by Luke Woodham, 16, who was also accused of killing his mother. He and his friends were said to be outcasts who worshiped Satan.
Dec. 1, 1997
West Paducah, Ky. Three students killed, five wounded by Michael Carneal, 14, as they participated in a prayer circle at Heath High School.
Dec. 15, 1997
Stamps, Ark. Two students wounded. Colt Todd, 14, was hiding in the woods when he shot the students as they stood in the parking lot.
March 24, 1998
Jonesboro, Ark. Four students and one teacher killed, ten others wounded outside as Westside Middle School emptied during a false fire alarm. Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, shot at their classmates and teachers from the woods.
April 24, 1998
Edinboro, Pa. One teacher, John Gillette, killed, two students wounded at a dance at James W. Parker Middle School. Andrew Wurst, 14, was charged.
May 19, 1998
Fayetteville, Tenn. One student killed in the parking lot at Lincoln County High School three days before he was to graduate. The victim was dating the ex-girlfriend of his killer, 18-year-old honor student Jacob Davis.
May 21, 1998
Springfield, Ore. Two students killed, 22 others wounded in the cafeteria at Thurston High School by 15-year-old Kip Kinkel. Kinkel had been arrested and released a day earlier for bringing a gun to school. His parents were later found dead at home.
June 15, 1998
Richmond, Va. One teacher and one guidance counselor wounded by a 14-year-old boy in the school hallway.
April 20, 1999
Littleton, Colo. 14 students (including killers) and one teacher killed, 23 others wounded at Columbine High School in the nation's deadliest school shooting. Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, had plotted for a year to kill at least 500 and blow up their school. At the end of their hour-long rampage, they turned their guns on themselves.
April 28, 1999
Taber, Alberta, Canada One student killed, one wounded at W. R. Myers High School in first fatal high school shooting in Canada in 20 years. The suspect, a 14-year-old boy, had dropped out of school after he was severely ostracized by his classmates.
May 20, 1999
Conyers, Ga. Six students injured at Heritage High School by Thomas Solomon, 15, who was reportedly depressed after breaking up with his girlfriend.
Nov. 19, 1999
Deming, N.M. Victor Cordova Jr., 12, shot and killed Araceli Tena, 13, in the lobby of Deming Middle School.
Dec. 6, 1999
Fort Gibson, Okla. Four students wounded as Seth Trickey, 13, opened fire with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun at Fort Gibson Middle School.
Dec. 7, 1999
Veghel, Netherlands One teacher and three students wounded by a 17-year-old student.
Feb. 29, 2000
Mount Morris Township, Mich. Six-year-old Kayla Rolland shot dead at Buell Elementary School near Flint, Mich. The assailant was identified as a six-year-old boy with a .32-caliber handgun.
March 2000
Branneburg, Germany One teacher killed by a 15-year-old student, who then shot himself. The shooter has been in a coma ever since.
March 10, 2000
Savannah, Ga. Two students killed by Darrell Ingram, 19, while leaving a dance sponsored by Beach High School.
May 26, 2000
Lake Worth, Fla. One teacher, Barry Grunow, shot and killed at Lake Worth Middle School by Nate Brazill, 13, with .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol on the last day of classes.
Sept. 26, 2000
New Orleans, La. Two students wounded with the same gun during a fight at Woodson Middle School.
Jan. 17, 2001
Baltimore, Md. One student shot and killed in front of Lake Clifton Eastern High School.
Jan. 18, 2001
Jan, Sweden One student killed by two boys, ages 17 and 19.
March 5, 2001
Santee, Calif. Two killed and 13 wounded by Charles Andrew Williams, 15, firing from a bathroom at Santana High School.
March 7, 2001
Williamsport, Pa. Elizabeth Catherine Bush, 14, wounded student Kimberly Marchese in the cafeteria of Bishop Neumann High School; she was depressed and frequently teased.
March 22, 2001
Granite Hills, Calif. One teacher and three students wounded by Jason Hoffman, 18, at Granite Hills High School. A policeman shot and wounded Hoffman.
March 30, 2001
Gary, Ind. One student killed by Donald R. Burt, Jr., a 17-year-old student who had been expelled from Lew Wallace High School.
Nov. 12, 2001
Caro, Mich. Chris Buschbacher, 17, took two hostages at the Caro Learning Center before killing himself.
Jan. 15, 2002
New York, N.Y. A teenager wounded two students at Martin Luther King Jr. High School.
Feb. 19, 2002
Freising, Germany Two killed in Eching by a man at the factory from which he had been fired; he then traveled to Freising and killed the headmaster of the technical school from which he had been expelled. He also wounded another teacher before killing himself.
April 26, 2002
Erfurt, Germany 13 teachers, two students, and one policeman killed, ten wounded by Robert Steinhaeuser, 19, at the Johann Gutenberg secondary school. Steinhaeuser then killed himself.
April 29, 2002
Vlasenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina One teacher killed, one wounded by Dragoslav Petkovic, 17, who then killed himself.
October 28, 2002
Tucson, Ariz. Robert S. Flores Jr., 41, a student at the nursing school at the University of Arizona, shot and killed three female professors and then himself.
April 14, 2003
New Orleans, La. One 15-year-old killed, and three students wounded at John McDonogh High School by gunfire from four teenagers (none were students at the school). The motive was gang-related.
April 24, 2003
Red Lion, Pa. James Sheets, 14, killed principal Eugene Segro of Red Lion Area Junior High School before killing himself.
Sept. 24, 2003
Cold Spring, Minn. Two students are killed at Rocori High School by John Jason McLaughlin, 15.
Sept. 28, 2004
Carmen de Patagones, Argentina Three students killed and 6 wounded by a 15-year-old Argentininan student in a town 620 miles south of Buenos Aires.
March 21, 2005
Red Lake, Minn. Jeff Weise, 16, killed grandfather and companion, then arrived at school where he killed a teacher, a security guard, 5 students, and finally himself, leaving a total of 10 dead.
Nov. 8, 2005
Jacksboro, Tenn. One 15-year-old shot and killed an assistant principal at Campbell County High School and seriously wounded two other administrators.
Aug. 24, 2006
Essex, Vt. Christopher Williams, 27, looking for his ex-girlfriend at Essex Elementary School, shot two teachers, killing one and wounding another. Before going to the school, he had killed the ex-girlfriend's mother.
Sept. 13, 2006
Montreal, Canada Kimveer Gill, 25, opened fire with a semiautomatic weapon at Dawson College. Anastasia De Sousa, 18, died and more than a dozen students and faculty were wounded before Gill killed himself.
Sept. 27, 2006
Bailey, Colo. Adult male held six students hostage at Platte Canyon High School and then shot and killed Emily Keyes, 16, and himself.
Sept. 29, 2006
Cazenovia, Wis. A 15-year-old student shot and killed Weston School principal John Klang.
Oct. 3, 2006
Nickel Mines, Pa. 32-year-old Carl Charles Roberts IV entered the one-room West Nickel Mines Amish School and shot 10 schoolgirls, ranging in age from 6 to 13 years old, and then himself. Five of the girls and Roberts died.
Jan. 3, 2007
Tacoma, Wash. Douglas Chanthabouly, 18, shot fellow student Samnang Kok, 17, in the hallway of Henry Foss High School.
April 16, 2007
Blacksburg, Va. A 23-year-old Virginia Tech student, Cho Seung-Hui, killed two in a dorm, then killed 30 more 2 hours later in a classroom building. His suicide brought the death toll to 33, making the shooting rampage the most deadly in U.S. history. Fifteen others were wounded.
Sept. 21, 2007
Dover, Del. A Delaware State Univesity Freshman, Loyer D. Brandon, shot and wounded two other Freshman students on the University campus. Brandon is being charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless engagement, as well as a gun charge.
Oct. 10, 2007
Cleveland, Ohio A 14-year-old student at a Cleveland high school, Asa H. Coon, shot and injured two students and two teachers before he shot and killed himself. The victims' injuries were not life-threatening.
Nov. 7, 2007
Tuusula, Finland An 18-year-old student in southern Finland shot and killed five boys, two girls, and the female principal at Jokela High School. At least 10 others were injured. The gunman shot himself and died from his wounds in the hospital.
Feb. 8, 2008
Baton Rouge, Louisiana A nursing student shot and killed two women and then herself in a classroom at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge.
Feb. 11, 2008
Memphis, Tennessee A 17-year-old student at Mitchell High School shot and wounded a classmate in gym class.
Feb. 12, 2008
Oxnard, California A 14-year-old boy shot a student at E.O. Green Junior High School causing the 15-year-old victim to be brain dead.
Feb. 14, 2008
DeKalb, Illinois Gunman killed five students and then himself, and wounded 17 more when he opened fire on a classroom at Northern Illinois University. The gunman, Stephen P. Kazmierczak, was identified as a former graduate student at the university in 2007.
Sept. 23, 2008
Kauhajoki, Finland A 20-year-old male student shot and killed at least nine students and himself at a vocational college in Kauhajok, 330km (205 miles) north of the capital, Helsinki.
Nov. 12, 2008
Fort Lauderdale, Florida A 15-year-old female student was shot and killed by a classmate at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale.
March 11, 2009
Winnenden, Germany Fifteen people were shot and killed at Albertville Technical High School in southwestern Germany by a 17-year-old boy who attended the same school.
April 30, 2009
Azerbaijan, Baku A Georgian citizen of Azerbaijani descent killed 12 students and staff at Azerbaijan State Oil Academy. Several others were wounded.
Feb. 5, 2010
Madison, Alabama At Discovery Middle School, a ninth-grader was shot by another student during a class change. The boy, whose name was not released, pulled out a gun and shot Todd Brown in the head while walking the hallway. Brown later died at Huntsville Hospital.
Feb. 12, 2010
Huntsville, Alabama During a meeting on campus, Amy Bishop, a biology professor, began shot her colleagues, killing three and wounding three others. A year earlier, Bishop had been denied tenure.
March 9, 2010
Columbus, Ohio A man opens fire at Ohio State University, killing two employees and wounding one other. The shooter had recently received an "unsatisfactory" job evaluation and was going to be fired on March 13.
Jan. 5, 2011
Omaha, Nebraska Two people were killed and two more injured in a shooting at Millard South High School. Shortly after being suspended from school, the shooter returned and shot the assistant principal, principal, and the school nurse. The shooter then left campus and took his own life.
Jan. 8, 2011
Tuscon, Arizona Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in an assassination attempt. At least 17 others are shot by a gunman, identified as Jared Lee Loughner, who opened fire on the congresswoman's constituent meeting outside a local grocery store. Six people are fatally wounded, including U.S. District Court Judge John Roll, and a young girl.
Jan. 5, 2011
Houston, Texas Two people opened fire during a Worthing High School powder-puff football game. One former student died. Five other people were injured.
April 7, 2011
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil A 23-year-old former student returned to his public elementary school in Rio de Janeiro and began firing, killing 12 children and seriously wounding more than a dozen others, before shooting himself in the head. While Brazil has seen gang-related violence in urban areas, this was the worst school shooting the country has ever seen.
May 10, 2011
San Jose, California Three people were killed in a parking garage at San Jose State University. Two former students were found dead on the fifth floor of the garage. A third, the suspected shooter, died later at the hospital.
July 22, 2011
Tyrifjorden, Buskerud, Norway A gunman disguised as a policeman opened fire at a camp for young political activists on the island of Utoya. The gunman kills 68 campers, including personal friends of Prime Minister Stoltenberg. Police arrested Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year-old Norwegian who had been been linked to an anti-Islamic group.
Dec. 8, 2011
Blacksburg, Virginia A Virginia Tech police officer was shot and killed by a 22-year old student of Radford University. The shooting took place in a parking lot on Virginia Tech's campus.
Feb. 10, 2012
Walpole, New Hampshire A 14-year-old student shot himself in front of 70 fellow students.
Feb. 27, 2012
Chardon, Ohio At Chardon High School, a former classmate opened fire, killing three students and injuring six. Arrested shortly after the incident, the shooter said that he randomly picked students.
March 6, 2012
Jacksonville, Florida Shane Schumerth, a 28-year-old teacher at Episcopal High School, returned to the campus after being fired and shot and killed the headmistress, Dale Regan, with an assault rifle.
March 19, 2012
Toulouse, France Mohammed Merah, a French man of Algerian descent, shot and killed a rabbi, two of his children, and another child at a Jewish school. Police believe he had earlier shot and killed three paratroopers. Merah said he was a member of Al Qaeda and that he was seeking revenge for the killing of Palestinian children.
April 2, 2012
Oakland, Calif. One Goh, a 43-year-old former student at Oikos University, a Christian school populated by mostly Korean and Korean-Americans, opened fire on the campus, killing seven people and wounding several others.
July 20, 2012
Aurora, Colo. During a midnight screening of the film The Dark Knight Rises, a gunman opens fire on the crowded theater. At least 12 people are killed and 38 others are wounded. The suspect, James Holmes, set off a smoke device in the front of the theater before opening fire. Directly after the incident, Holmes, age 24, was arrested in a parking lot behind the theater.
August 5, 2012
Oak Creek, Wis. A gunman opens fire at a Sikh temple, killing six people and wounding three. Police shot and killed the suspect, Wade Michael Page, after the attack. Page, a neo-Nazi, served in the U.S. Army from 1992 to 1998.
December 11, 2012
Portland, Ore. Jacob Tyler Roberts, 22, opened fire in the Clackamas Town Center mall, located 11 miles from downtown Portland, Oregon. Using an AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle, Roberts killed two people and wounded one other. He then took his own life.
December 14, 2012
Newtown, Conn. Adam Lanza, 20, killed 20 children and six others at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. He killed his mother, Nancy, at her home prior to the massacre at the school. Lanza committed suicide after the rampage. The shooting was the second deadliest in U.S. history, behind the 2007 shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute that claimed 32 people.

Read more: Time Line of Worldwide School Shootings — Infoplease.com www.infoplease.com...

edit on 17-1-2013 by antar because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 17 2013 @ 12:41 PM
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Continued on the next post, please be patient as I ran out of additional space in the OP.

Thank you.



posted on Jan, 17 2013 @ 12:47 PM
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Safe School Initiative, an extensive examination of 37 incidents of targeted school shootings and school attacks that have occurred in the United States beginning with the earliest identified incident in 1974 through June 2000. The focus of the Safe School Initiative was on examining the thinking, planning, and other behaviors engaged in by students who carried out school attacks. Particular attention was given to identifying pre-attack behaviors and communications that might be detectable--or “knowable”--and could help in preventing some future attacks.



CONTENTS

JOINT MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND THE DIRECTOR, U.S. SECRET SERVICE 3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5

CONTENTS 7

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION: THE SAFE SCHOOL INITIATIVE 8
The Safe School Initiative 8
Defining “Targeted” School Violence 9
The Secret Service Threat Assessment Approach 10
The Prevalence of Violence in American Schools 11
Methodology 13
The Study Population 14
Sources of Information on Incidents of Targeted School Violence 14
Analysis of Responses to the Coded Study Questions 15
Organization of the Final Report 16
Overview of Safe School Initiative Findings 17

CHAPTER II: CHARACTERISTICS OF INCIDENTS OF TARGETED SCHOOL VIOLENCE 19
Target and Victim Characteristics 20

CHAPTER III: FINDINGS OF THE SAFE SCHOOL INITIATIVE 22
Characterizing the Attacker 22
Conceptualizing the Attack 27
Signaling the Attack 28
Advancing the Attack 30
Resolving the Attack 31

CHAPTER IV: IMPLICATIONS OF SAFE SCHOOL INITIATIVE FINDINGS FOR THE PREVENTION OF TARGETED SCHOOL VIOLENCE 33
The Implications of Key Study Findings 34

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION: THREAT ASSESSMENT AS A PROMISING STRATEGY FOR PREVENTING SCHOOL VIOLENCE 41
Threat Assessment and Targeted School Violence Prevention 41

APPENDIX A: Incidents of Targeted School Violence by State 43

APPENDIX B: Incidents of Targeted School Violence by Year 44

APPENDIX C: Resources 45


Continued on next Post...



posted on Jan, 17 2013 @ 01:12 PM
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As previously stated the main focus and objective of this study was to ascertain if it is possible to identify problems within the schools and or communities before an attack happens.


Key features of the Safe School Initiative were its focus on “targeted” school violence and its adaptation of earlier Secret Service research on assassination for its examination of incidents of school-based attacks.


Using the same data acquired since 1949 to discover a greater understanding of information prior to attacks on public officials including the President of the United States.


The focus of the ECSP study was an operational analysis of the thinking and behavior of those who have assassinated, attacked or tried to attack a national public official or public figure in the United States since 1949. The ECSP defined “targeted violence” as any incident of violence where a known or knowable attacker selects a particular target prior to their violent attack.


"Protectees" are those individuals that are guarded under the protection of Secret Service such as POTUS and Family, Dignitaries, and elected officials, in this context it also includes students and faculty.

Now in my opinion this kinds of gets into thought police mentality and can never be a precise science.


Threat assessment is a process of identifying, assessing and managing the threat that certain persons may pose to Secret Service protectees. The goal of threat assessment is to intervene before an attack can occur. The threat assessment process involves three principal steps–all before the person has the opportunity to attack: identifying individuals who have the idea or intent of attacking a Secret Service protectee; assessing whether the individual poses a risk to a protectee, after gathering sufficient information from multiple sources; and, managing the threat the individual poses, in those cases where the individual investigated is determined to pose a threat.



To put the problem of targeted school-based attacks in context, from 1993 to 1997 the odds that a child in grades 9-12 would be threatened or injured with a weapon in school were 7 to 8 percent, or 1 in 13 or 14; the odds of getting into a physical fight at school were 15 percent, or 1 in 7. In contrast, the odds that a child would die in school–by homicide or suicide–are, fortunately, no greater than 1 in 1 million. In 1998, students in grades 9-12 were the victims of 1.6 million thefts and 1.2 million nonfatal violent crimes, while in this same period 60 school-associated violent deaths were reported for this student population



The findings of the Safe School Initiative’s extensive search for recorded incidents of targeted school-based attacks underscore the rarity of lethal attacks in school settings. The Department of Education reports that nearly 60 million children attend the nation’s 119,000+ schools. The combined efforts of the Secret Service and the Department of Education identified 37 incidents of targeted school-based attacks, committed by 41 individuals over a 25-year period.



For the purposes of this study, an incident of targeted school violence was defined as any incident where (i) a current student or recent former student attacked someone at his or her school with lethal means (e.g., a gun or knife); and, (ii) where the student attacker purposefully chose his or her school as the location of the attack. Consistent with this definition, incidents where the school was chosen simply as a site of opportunity, such as incidents that were solely related to gang or drug trade activity or to a violent interaction between individuals that just happened to occur at the school, were not included.


Continued on next Post...



posted on Jan, 17 2013 @ 01:28 PM
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In compiling the data base investigators were asked to log hundreds of questions from the interviewees and without an attempt to engage in any interpretation of the answers or facts discovered. Here is a sampling of the types of questions asked and coded:


*the attacker’s development of an idea to harm the target, and progression from the original idea to the attack;
*the attacker’s selection of the target(s);
*the attacker’s motive(s) for the incident;
*any communications made by the attacker about his or her ideas and intent, including any threats made to the *target(s) or about the target(s);
*evidence that the attacker planned the incident;
*the attacker’s mental health and substance abuse history, if any; and,
*the attacker’s life circumstances/situation at the time of the attack, including relationships with parents and *other family members; performance in school; and treatment by fellow students.


Information regarding the attacker’s demographic characteristics and personal history, including criminal and school history, also were coded.

Interestingly many of the coded findings were not conclusive and characteristics assumed to fall into place lacked sufficient similarities, however in the absence of common traits, this also was noted as evidence and worthy observations.


Next Organization of the Final Report
Continued on next Post...



posted on Jan, 17 2013 @ 02:04 PM
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The final report was organized into 4 chapters, I will attempt to give the highlights of their findings only and hope that you can find time to read for yourself the full reports available.

These findings are as follows:

*Incidents of targeted violence at school rarely were sudden, impulsive acts.

*Prior to most incidents, other people knew about the attacker’s idea and/or plan to attack.
Most attackers did not threaten their targets directly prior to advancing the attack.

*There is no accurate or useful “profile” of students who engaged in targeted school violence.

*Most attackers engaged in some behavior prior to the incident that caused others concern or indicated a need for help.

*Most attackers had difficulty coping with significant losses or personal failures. Moreover, many had considered or attempted suicide.

*Many attackers felt bullied, persecuted or injured by others prior to the attack.

*Most attackers had access to and had used weapons prior to the attack.

*In many cases, other students were involved in some capacity.

*Despite prompt law enforcement responses, most shooting incidents were stopped by means other than law enforcement intervention.


Analysis of the study findings identified the following characteristics of incidents of targeted school violence:


In almost three-quarters of the incidents, the attacker killed one or more students, faculty or others at the school (73 percent, n=27). In the remaining incidents, the attackers used a weapon to injure at least one person at school (24 percent, n=9). In one incident, a student killed his family and then held his class hostage with a weapon.
More than one-half of the attacks occurred during the school day (59 percent, n=22), with fewer occurring before school (22 percent, n=8) or after school (16 percent, n=6).
Almost all of the attackers were current students at the school where they carried out their attacks (95 percent, n=39). Only two attackers were former students of the school where they carried out their attacks at the time of those attacks (5 percent, n=2).
All of the incidents of targeted school violence examined in the Safe School Initiative were committed by boys or young men (100 percent, n=41).
In most of the incidents, the attackers carried out the attack alone (81 percent, n=30). In four of the incidents, the attacker engaged in the attack on his own but had assistance in planning the attack (11 percent, n=4). In three incidents, two or more attackers carried out the attack together (8 percent, n=3).
Most attackers used some type of gun as their primary weapon, with over half of the attackers using handguns (61 percent, n=25), and nearly half of them using rifles or shotguns (49 percent, n=20). Three-quarters of the attackers used only one weapon (76 percent, n=31) to harm their victims, although almost half of the attackers had more than one weapon with them at time of the attack (46 percent, n=19).


Over half of the killings were done with a hand gun? Yet the new directives from the Obama administration seek to help this continuing challenge by outlawing high powered semi automatic weapons?

Target and victim characteristics identified by the Safe School Initiative were:


In over half of the incidents (54 percent, n=22), the attacker had selected at least one school administrator, faculty member or staff member as a target. Students were chosen as targets in fewer than half of the incidents (41 percent, n=15).
In nearly half of the incidents, the attackers were known to have chosen more than one target prior to their attack (44 percent, n=16).
Most attackers had a grievance against at least one of their targets prior to the attack (73 percent, n=30).
In almost half of the incidents (46 percent, n=17), individuals who were targeted prior to the attack also became victims (i.e., individuals actually harmed in the attack). However, other individuals at the school, who were not identified as original targets of the attack, were injured or killed as well. Among these non-targeted individuals, over half were other students (57 percent, n=21) and over one-third (39 percent, n=16) were school administrators, faculty or staff.



The findings of researchers’ analysis of the 37 incidents of targeted school violence that were examined under the Safe School Initiative fall generally into five areas:

characterizing the attacker;
conceptualizing the attack;
signaling the attack;
advancing the attack; and,
resolving the attack.


Continued in next Post...



posted on Jan, 17 2013 @ 02:25 PM
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The attackers in the largest grouping were doing well in school at the time of the attack, generally receiving As and Bs in their courses (41 percent; n=17); some were even taking Advanced Placement courses at the time of the incident or had been on the honor roll repeatedly.

Fewer of the attackers were receiving Bs and Cs (15 percent, n=6), or Cs and Ds (22 percent, n=9).
Very few of the attackers were known to be failing in school (5 percent, n=2).



Almost two-thirds of the attackers came from two-parent families (63 percent, n=26), living either with both biological parents (44 percent, n=18) or with one biological parent and one stepparent (19 percent, n=8).
Some lived with one biological parent (19 percent, n=8) or split time between two biological parents (2 percent, n=1).
Very few lived with a foster parent or legal guardian (5 percent, n=2).


Attackers also varied in the types of social relationships they had established, ranging from socially isolated to popular among their peers.


The largest group of attackers for whom this information was available appeared to socialize with mainstream students or were considered mainstream students themselves (41 percent, n=17).

One-quarter of the attackers (27 percent, n=11) socialized with fellow students who were disliked by most mainstream students or were considered to be part of a “fringe” group.

Few attackers had no close friends (12 percent, n=5).

One-third of attackers had been characterized by others as “loners,” or felt themselves to be loners (34 percent, n=14).

However, nearly half of the attackers were involved in some organized social activities in or outside of school (44 percent, n=18). These activities included sports teams, school clubs, extracurricular activities and mainstream religious groups.


I find this all so interesting because of how social media tends to portray the perpetrator as some kind of vile criminal with no social standing. Even the pictures we always see sprayed across the Tv and newspapers show them in such light as they are hated before anyone knows the whole story.

Surprisingly, the violent crimes we see happening are not always done by the rejects of our societies, communities, and the targeted kids on the watch lists are generally not from these categories listed above.


Only one-third of attackers had ever received a mental health evaluation (34 percent, n=14), and fewer than one-fifth had been diagnosed with mental health or behavior disorder prior to the attack (17 percent, n=7).
Although most attackers had not received a formal mental health evaluation or diagnosis, most attackers exhibited a history of suicide attempts or suicidal thoughts at some point prior to their attack (78 percent, n=32). More than half of the attackers had a documented history of feeling extremely depressed or desperate (61 percent, n=25).
Approximately one-quarter of the attackers had a known history of alcohol or substance abuse (24 percent, n=10).
The only information collected that would indicate whether attackers had been prescribed psychiatric medications concerned medication non-compliance (i.e., failure to take medication as prescribed). Ten percent of the attackers (n=4) were known to be non-compliant with prescribed psychiatric medications.



Approximately one-quarter of the attackers had exhibited an interest in violent movies (27 percent, n=11).
Approximately one-quarter of the attackers had exhibited an interest in violent books (24 percent, n=10).
One-eighth of the attackers exhibited an interest in violent video games (12 percent, n=5).
The largest group of attackers exhibited an interest in violence in their own writings, such as poems, essays or journal entries (37 percent, n=15).
Finding
Most attackers had no history of prior violent or criminal behavior.
Explanation
Fewer than one-third of the attackers were known to have acted violently toward others at some point prior to the incident (31 percent, n=13).
Very few of the attackers were known to have harmed or killed an animal at any time prior to the incident (12 percent, n=5).
Approximately one-quarter of the attackers had a prior history of arrest (27 percent, n=


And yet Obama has asked the CDC to research Violent video games as a potential precursor to violent behavior? At the tax payers unfortunate expense.


Incidents of targeted violence at school rarely are sudden, impulsive acts.

Explanation
Several findings of the Safe School Initiative indicate clearly that the school-based attacks studied were rarely impulsive. Rather, these attacks typically were thought out beforehand and involved some degree of advance planning. In many cases, the attacker’s observable behavior prior to the attack suggested he might be planning or preparing for a school attack.


Concluded below:



posted on Jan, 17 2013 @ 02:55 PM
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The timing and follow through of the attacks varied greatly however it is rare for an attacker to conceptualize and carry out as an impulsive act but instead often pre planned for up to more than a year in advance, with revenge being the number one reason behind the killing plan. 95% of the attackers had a 'target' in mind before going into the school with lethal intent in mind.

For the attacker to conceptualize and then follow through with this deathly violence, it is rarely an impulsive act but rather something that they have taken time to plan out sometimes for years in advance.


For those incidents where information was available to determine how long the attacker had an idea to harm the target (n=33), the analysis showed that a little over half of the attackers developed their idea for the incident at least a month prior to the attack (51 percent, n=17).
In addition, almost all of the attackers planned out the attack in advance of carrying it out (93 percent; n=38).


This is scary information and something the knowing survivor must live with for the rest of their lives:


Prior to most incidents, other people knew about the attacker’s idea and/or plan to attack.
Explanation
In most cases, other people knew about the attack before it took place. In over three-quarters of the incidents, at least one person had information that the attacker was thinking about or planning the school attack (81 percent, n=30). In nearly two-thirds of the incidents, more than one person had information about the attack before it occurred (59 percent, n=22). In nearly all of these cases, the person who knew was a peer–a friend, schoolmate, or sibling (93 percent, n=28/30). Some peers knew exactly what the attacker planned to do; others knew something “big” or “bad” was going to happen, and in several cases knew the time and date it was to occur.


With all of the school push against and identifying 'bullying' this just made no sense to me!


Most attackers did not threaten their targets directly prior to advancing the attack.
Explanation
The majority of the attackers in the targeted school violence incidents examined under the Safe School Initiative did not threaten their target(s) directly, i.e., did not tell the target they intended to harm them, whether in direct, indirect or conditional language prior to the attack. Only one-sixth of the attackers threatened their target(s) directly prior to the attack (17 percent, n=7).



Experience using weapons and access to them was common for many attackers. Nearly two-thirds of the attackers had a known history of weapons use, including knives, guns and bombs (63 percent, n=26). Over half of the attackers had some experience specifically with a gun prior to the incident (59 percent, n=24), while others had experience with bombs or explosives (15 percent, n=6). However, fewer than half of the attackers demonstrated any fascination or excessive interest with weapons (44 percent, n=18), and less than one-third showed a fascination with explosives (32 percent, n=13) prior to their attacks. Over two-thirds of the attackers acquired the gun (or guns) used in their attacks from their own home or that of a relative (68 percent, n=28).


With this information, then how are the new laws going to help if a student decides to take a weapon from a friend or relative to harm the students and faculty at school?


Resolving the Attack


Despite prompt law enforcement responses, most attacks were stopped by means other than law enforcement intervention.


Most of the attacks were ended by students, faculty or by the death of the attacker or the attacker leaving the premises on their own. In only 1/4% was the killer stopped by Police. The duration is generally under 15 minutes from the start of the incidence to the end and this could be the main reason the Law enforcement numbers are so low.

The 10 key findings will be listed below in final post:



posted on Jan, 17 2013 @ 02:58 PM
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The 10 key findings that the authors believe may have implications for the development of strategies to address the problem of targeted school violence are as follows:


Incidents of targeted violence at school rarely are sudden, impulsive acts.

Prior to most incidents, other people knew about the attacker’s idea and/or plan to attack.

Most attackers did not threaten their targets directly prior to advancing the attack.

There is no accurate or useful profile of students who engaged in targeted school violence.

Most attackers engaged in some behavior prior to the incident that caused others concern or indicated a need for help.

Most attackers had difficulty coping with significant losses or personal failures. Moreover, many had considered or attempted suicide.

Many attackers felt bullied, persecuted or injured by others prior to the attack.

Most attackers had access to and had used weapons prior to the attack.

In many cases, other students were involved in some capacity.

Despite prompt law enforcement responses, most shooting incidents were stopped by means other than law enforcement intervention.


This report is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part is granted. While permission to reprint this publication is not necessary, the citation should be: Vossekuil, B., Fein, R., Reddy, M., Borum, R., & Modzeleski, W. Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program and U.S. Secret Service, National Threat Assessment Center, Washington, D.C., 2002.

To order copies of this report,

write to: ED Pubs, Education Publications Center, U.S. Department of Education, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398;

or fax your request to: (301) 470-1244;

or email your request to: [email protected] or [email protected].

or call in your request toll-free: 1-877-433-7827 (1-800-4-ED-Pubs). If 877 service is not yet available in your area, call 1-800-872-5327 (1-800-USA-LEARN). Those who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a teletypewriter (TTY), should call 1-800-437-0833.

or order online at: www.ed.gov...

This report is also available on the Department of Education’s Web site at: www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS and the U.S. Secret Service Web site at: www.secretservice.gov/ntac.shtml.

On request, this publication is available in alternative formats, such as Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette. For more information, please contact the Department of Education’s Alternate Format Center (202) 260-9895 or (202) 205-81113.



posted on Jan, 17 2013 @ 03:31 PM
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I just wanted to open a discussion about how the control of guns will help stop the school shootings. I mean no offense to anyone who thinks that it can help but from these findings alone the statistics tell me other wise and in fact all of the media hype can cause copycat events to spring up during these terribly eventful times in our shared history.

Are the video games the same ones that were developed by companies that also control the GMOs and the media who decide what is viewer appropriate and non harmful to developing minds?

I had to buy satellite Tv just to have choices that were not msm and filled with what I think is shocking violence and desensitization. I knew to shut it all off for the sake of my children when I first saw a show like csi or something where two actors were rolling a dismembered head down a hallway while flirting and discussing what they were to eat for their lunch rendezvous.

Then all I hear from msm in the past years is how violent video games will cause children to become insensitive and even dangerous with lack of human empathy.

Yet I have also heard how games like call of duty are designed to help teach young minds to think like a soldier, I do not know for sure but other games have also been said to have been developed along those same lines.

It is a stressful time for young people, they feel the weight of a trillion times the debt the Government continues to accrue , left for them to resolve. Even if their families somehow shield them from the harsh realities, they have friends at school who they see going through tough financial troubles and challenges.

For me I see this as something so far beyond gun control or additional legislation on social networking, the kids being prompted to buy into the consumerism of electronics world and yet the reality is daunting at best now that they are reliant upon those networks to help define this generation.

I have to ask what others think about this report, the direction our children are being guided by the msm and the intrusions of the Government. As families lose their assets in failed markets will we begin to see more of these events? Is the pressure just too much for the youth of today compiled with the degradation they suffer at the hands of the criminally imbalanced?

We all know what it feels like to have to live in the shadows of what others before us have pulled on others, society, frauds who have made the checks and balances oftentimes simply unfair to the hardworking and honest?



posted on Jan, 17 2013 @ 06:14 PM
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Wow, I am going to have to mark this to read when I have some more time on my hands. Great job on compiling all that, going to take a while to go through and digest.



posted on Jan, 17 2013 @ 06:27 PM
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reply to post by TKDRL
 


Ah I was just thinking that it's too much without the break of pictures included, but by the time I went to add some time was up to edit. It is a bit staunch without illustrations I know but for those that have trouble with PDF formats or just avoid Gov. sites, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I am just so frustrated with the idea of how the current administration has used the children to promote gun legislation without any concrete examination of facts. I realize there are some first rate threads on the board that are discussing much the same but felt like this was a new and deeper angle than just another angry thread about using children as human shields in the efforts to criminalize Patriotic Americans.

The issue is real enough and I fear will be lead into a direction that causes more killings rather than saving lives if the current direction is allowed to unfold.

Thanks for replying and hope you find time to at least skim through the evidence provided in this study because there are so many angles which need to be brought into the debates and discussions on other threads, facts need to be illuminated not hidden.



posted on Jan, 18 2013 @ 10:07 AM
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Although I have to agree more emphasis could and should be placed on helping children over come difficult times in their lives and having professionals available to students who know some of the things to look for in high risk cases, yet is it possible that placing students under the glass so to speak will have in fact the opposite affect overall?

We need to think this through clearly because as in the final assessments made above it is often students that are doing well in school, socially accepted that can be in some of the higher risk categories.

With so much stress placed on students in today's schools, seems everyone has now become suspect and almost as if looked upon as a potential threat rather than a struggling student or even one with exceptional marks.

Creating mediocrity is never easy!

I think that by creating more stress on students to "Be Normal" is going to be a dangerous proposition in the long run, and who is going to police the new regime of councilors and security forces at the over 100,000 schools nationwide?

The students themselves are going to have to have a say in how this develops just as much as the "professionals".

www.utsandiego.com...



posted on Jan, 18 2013 @ 10:07 AM
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Although I have to agree more emphasis could and should be placed on helping children over come difficult times in their lives and having professionals available to students who know some of the things to look for in high risk cases, yet is it possible that placing students under the glass so to speak will have in fact the opposite affect overall?

We need to think this through clearly because as in the final assessments made above it is often students that are doing well in school, socially accepted that can be in some of the higher risk categories.

With so much stress placed on students in today's schools, seems everyone has now become suspect and almost as if looked upon as a potential threat rather than a struggling student or even one with exceptional marks.

Creating mediocrity is never easy!

I think that by creating more stress on students to "Be Normal" is going to be a dangerous proposition in the long run, and who is going to police the new regime of councilors and security forces at the over 100,000 schools nationwide?

The students themselves are going to have to have a say in how this develops just as much as the "professionals".

www.utsandiego.com...



posted on Jan, 18 2013 @ 11:34 AM
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Thank you for putting this together! We need to take a step back and realize what brought us here.
We have been extremely desensitized to death. It has been transformed from tragedy to entertainment.
I believe that the technology that made it possible has created a disconnect somewhere as well.
People in general have little concept of the circle of life. When you hunt or raise an animal for food, you are a part of that cycle. You have to reason the death of a creature for your own survival. There is an inherent respect for the life that sustains you, as well as a sadness for the vitality lost in that form to sustain your own.
When we are capable of pressing a reset or power button, it removes an essential concept of forever that defines death. Our ability to utilize the technology has far outstripped our maturity to be able to handle it.

Let's take our kids off the meds that people have been pushing for so long now, and take them outside to run off that nervous energy. Let's give them an outlet, a productive, creative one! Our society has been teaching our kids not to think, we need to re instill logic and free thinking. We also need to teach them cause and effect again so they have the ability to see that horrendous self serving actions are wrong!! Our society has so skewed the line between right and wrong, that it is our job (as parents) to reinforce that distinction. Just one example is that in many parts of the country it seems, I would be a criminal for growing a garden. On the other hand first graders are running around on the playground playing Halo and zombies and killing each other all recess, and the teachers do little or nothing about it, because everyone is right, and you can't tell anyone no, because it might hurt their feelings.

Actions have consequences, good or bad. The problem is not the guns, it is what we are teaching our kids.



posted on Jan, 18 2013 @ 02:20 PM
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reply to post by woodsmom
 


The push for the great mediocre, and the normalcy which doesn't really exist outside of abstract concepts, is made all the more dangerous when we are shoehorning our kids into it by force, with the use of brain altering medications.



posted on Jan, 18 2013 @ 03:37 PM
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...not going to go through the entire list, but will snag this one, as it is from my hometown...


Nov. 19, 1999
Deming, N.M. Victor Cordova Jr., 12, shot and killed Araceli Tena, 13, in the lobby of Deming Middle School.


amarillo.com...
Two important issues here:

Cordova Sr. said a doctor prescribed medication for his son's temperament two years ago, but the boy stopped taking it shortly thereafter when he grew more depressed.


Local news was that the school nurse was giving him his sedatives, but the dad wasn't following through on his end. Bottom line, has there been a major act of school violence in the USA in the past 30 years which didn't involve these alegedly "healing" drugs? What a crying shame it is that those the slim majority of America has chosen to "lead" them lack the testicles needed and the morality required to step back and demand that the drug companies submit to 100% independent reviews of their toxins. What type of sheep have we become that we not only allow ourselves to be fed drugs which carry warning labels guaranteeing increases in violent and destructive thoughts and agression, but many actually wear their usage as a badge of honor. (Think about the trendy people in the 90's... if you weren't on at least one antidepressant, you clearly weren't with the in-crowd.)


Cordova Jr. was living in Palomas and was commuting to school in Deming. He has dual citizenship, because he was born in Deming. He is one of scores of American children living in Palomas who are allowed to cross the border each day to attend classes in Luna County, a practice that has been around for decades.


He used his father's .22 pistol which he had snuck out of his Palomas, Mexico home. Couple major issues with that. First of all, Mexico has supposedly enlightened firearm laws which were supposed to get firearms out of criminal hands by taking them from EVERYONES' hands. How'd that work out for them?
Next, (and understanding this was pre-9/11, but also that nothing in regards to this has changed.) someone really needs to explain how in the hell it is justifiable and supposedly "rational" to virtually molest American citizens with NO reasonable cause just because they are attempting to enjoy their freedom of travel via the airways... but they allow a bunch of kids to get bused over the border to be educated on American soil using American tax dollars in an area which already has a horrible track record in regards to successful education of their own kids AND THEY'RE NOT PASSED THROUGH HIGH SECURITY CHECKS!?!?!?

This is just one of the lower profile incidents on the list. I only know the backstory here because I lived there when it happened, had gone to that school 10 years prior, and knew the deal. I can't help but think that it is likely each of the lesser known incidents on that list could be expanded on greatly by anyone who was familiar with them and, if that were to happen, we'd see a proven track record of psychotic drugs destroying lives and security measures enacted which are directed at the wrong place and wrong people.



posted on Jan, 22 2013 @ 04:22 PM
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reply to post by TKDRL
 


How fitting, the great mediocre, that is all they are offering our kids in school these days.
They teach them how to get by rather than how to live, and in the process they teach them that the meanest, slowest kid gets the attention. In essence they are telling our children to be incapable and selfish.

I have seen multiple parents who have had the drugs pushed at their kids as the quick fix.
Concepts like responsibility, respect and personal discipline would go a long way toward fixing our society's ills. Unfortunately, we have been taught already that easy and convenient fixes are the only way to go.
Sorry for the mass generalizations too, my husband calls me out on that all the time. The parents I know have put the effort in to do better by their kids than that, but I see it as a systemic problem.

I now homeschool for these reasons and so many more.I pray that no one else gets hurt in this mass shadow game being played out in the guise of helping our children, when all the system has done is hurt our kids and our families.




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