Thread: School shootings: 120 attempted assaults on America's schools thwarted over 10 years

School shootings: 120 attempted assaults on America's schools thwarted over 10 years


Photographer: Google
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Regular Photo Size

Posted: 12/19/2012
Last Updated: 10 hours and 57 minutes ago

• By: LEE BOWMAN Scripps Howard News Service

Alongside the tragic toll of school shootings from Columbine to Virginia Tech to Newtown, Conn., stands another list that offers some hope.

More than 120 attempted or planned assaults on schools nationwide were halted by authorities without loss of life by students or school staff, including three in Arizona.

See our interactive map of the school locations embedded below.

The list, compiled between 2000 and 2010 by Cleveland-based National School Safety and Security Services, is based almost entirely on contemporary media reports. It is not comprehensive, but represents a sampling of what were likely many hundreds more unpublicized threats blocked before harm could be done.

“The good news is that schools have become much better at averting these incidents since Columbine and Sandy Hook,’’ said Ken Trump, president of the school security consulting group. “The bad news is that we will always have incidents that will slip through the cracks when you’re dealing with human behavior.”

“I daresay there are many more instances that have occurred around schools that never get reported publicly for various reasons,’’ added Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers, which supports law enforcement officers assigned to schools.

A review of the 121 incidents shows the majority of threats to the schools involved actual or intended use of guns (55 instances) or explosive devices (22), with the rest not specified.

The reports indicate most of the threats were blocked by police investigations or law enforcement interventions at the schools when an assault was already underway. School administrators, counselors, school resource officers, even janitors and cafeteria workers, foiled at least 19 threats.

In Olive Hill, Ky., early in 2002, a 12-year-old middle school student briefly held another male student hostage at gunpoint in a hallway. The school resource officer was able to end the incident without any injuries.

In September 2006, a student told a school resource officer in Green Bay, Wis., that two 17-year-olds planned an attack at the school. A search of one of the boys’ homes found sawed-off shotguns, pistols, ammunition, several bombs, bomb-making material, camouflage clothing, helmets and gas masks.

“The dynamics of schools’ response to the threat of violence has changed since Columbine (the Colorado high school where two seniors murdered 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves April 20, 1999),” said Curtis Lavallo, executive director of the School Safety Advocacy Council, a consulting and lobbying group. “There’s no longer just one person in charge of safety at a school, but a whole team of folks that extends out into the community.”

In Spokane, Wash., in 2005, a 14-year-old boy expelled from high school for writing a threatening note to his teacher had written a suicide note and was headed for the school with a loaded handgun to shoot the teacher when family members found the note and called police. They were able to apprehend him when he was about four blocks from the school.

The next month, in Ashville, N.C., an 8th grader posted an Internet threat: "I'm planning a Columbine on my dumb hippie school on the last day of school so everybody will be there to enjoy the Massacre." Later, he allegedly added, "I know where my dad's 12-gauge is along with his .45, .38 and his .22." An adult in Ohio read the posts and reported the threat to authorities in North Carolina.

The records also show that attempts at school violence tend to increase in April around the anniversary of Columbine. “There are peaks and valleys in reporting, particularly after an actual attack, ‘’ said Katherine Newman, a professor of social sciences at Johns Hopkins University who has studied mass school shootings, including some she terms “near-miss” cases. “The sensitivity that this could really happen here goes up, although it may not be sustained over time.”

Canady said even though the unlikelihood that mass violence will strike any given school, police officers and administrators have come to treat all threats more seriously.

“Whether it’s something a student hears or someone sees on Facebook, whatever it is, it’s more apt to bring the attention of police officers.”

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

School shootings: 120 attempted assaults on America's schools thwarted over 10 years

Man enters different Sandy Hook Elementary School with wood labeled ‘High Powered Rifle’

By Dylan Stableford, Yahoo! News | The Lookout – 1 hr 10 mins ago

A man carrying a two-by-four that was labeled "High Powered Rifle" was arrested at Sandy Hook Elementary School in northern Virginia on Wednesday, five days after a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

According to NBC Washington, the Shenandoah County Sheriff's Office said the 33-year-old man, Christopher Johnson, was "met" by the Strasburg school's staff at 11:40 a.m. before being detained by a resource officer stationed at the school.

Johnson was then arrested and taken into custody without incident, police said.

A police spokesman said he was not sure why Johnson entered the school, but said it appeared the man was attempting to deliver a message "related to school safety."

Johnson was charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, and given a Dec. 28 court date.

There have been reports of other arrests in the wake of the massacre in Newtown.

Security has been increased at schools nationwide, and police and parents have been, understandably, on edge.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/high-powered-rifle-twobyfour-sandy-hook-school-virginia-155825050.html;_ylt=Ag_8EvucZWlWyHAunIUFJT6s0NUE;_ ylu=X3oDMTNoZjV0ZDQ4BG1pdAMEcGtnA2Y4M2YyODdmLTQzM2 EtMzdjZi1iMGNlLWYxMjdiMTI4Yzk4OQRwb3MDMgRzZWMDbG5f WWFob29OZXdzX2dhbAR2ZXIDNmE5ZmExOTAtNGFjNy0xMWUyLW I3ZmUtYTFlMTRjZDZmYjAx;_ylv=3

Media seems to be pulling out all of the stops to push the progressive agenda. State run propaganda media at its best. JMO

Fla. teen arrested for threat to 'shoot everyone'

Associated Press – 1 hr 38 mins ago

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — Police have arrested a Florida teen who they say posted a Facebook message threatening to "bring a gun to school tomorrow and shoot everyone."

The St. Lucie County Sheriff's office said Thursday night that they received a tip from a parent who saw the threat from the 13-year-old student.
Neither the teen nor his school has been identified.

A sheriff's spokesman says the student did not have access to any weapons. No schools were evacuated or locked down, but security at area schools had already been increased as a result of the mass shooting at a Connecticut school last Friday. The student is charged with a single second-degree felony charge of making a written threat.

Authorities say he is being held at the Juvenile Detention Center in Fort Pierce.

http://news.yahoo.com/fla-teen-arrested-threat-shoot-everyone-021634927.html

Ponca City police arrest middle school student for reported threats


Regular Photo Size
Related Links

• Police: Bville student planned shooting
• Threat shuts down Bartlesville schools
• BPD: No new reports of school threats
• School districts receive threats, close
• State forms school security task force

Posted: 12/20/2012
Last Updated: 4 hours and 27 minutes ago

PONCA CITY, Okla. - Ponca City police have taken a 14-year-old into custody for allegedly making threats.

According to police, they made the arrest after investigating information they received Thursday morning about threatening statements made by a West Middle School student.

The school district in a statement the school released the same day at 9:20 a.m., the administration at West Middle School reported that two students had come forward and reported a student who was threatening to harm people.

During the investigation by school administration and a school resource officer, the student reportedly admitted to wanting to harm staff members and himself. Official though determined he did not have anything in his possession that would allow him to carry out these threats.

Investigators are working with mental health professionals to determine a course of action, according to police.

In a letter to parents, District Superintendent David Pennington told them to be careful of being "caught up in the rumor mill."

"There is difference between 'someone is threatening' and 'John Doe is threatening an act of violence at school,'" he said, telling parents if students come home expressing concerns about their safety, they should ask for specifics. If satisfied with the details, then contact authorities.

Additionally, Pennington said he and the police believe the schools are safe, but have agreed to provide extra police for the rest of the week, but not because of any threat to school safety.

Ponca City police arrest middle school student for reported threats

Students make threats after recent school shooting
WAFF ‎- 4 hours ago
In the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, several schools around the Valley are now dealing with threats made by students this week.

Students can face real consequences for making threats at school
YNN‎ - 1 hour ago

1. St. Lucie County middle school student arrested after posting threat on Facebook
   WPTV‎ - 21 minutes ago
   
   Several York County schools deal with rumors or threats - The York ...
   www.ydr.com/local/.../rumored-threats-at-red-lion-area-senior-high?...
   56 minutes ago – West York Area High School was given information about a student making a threat that fell under the board's policy on "terroristic threats," on ...
   
   
   Get more results from the past 24 hours
   
   
   School Threats Can Lead to Serious Penalties | WSILTV | Local News
   www.wsiltv.com/.../School-Threats-Can-Lead-to-Serious-Penalties-...
   2 hours ago – However, even if the threat is really a bad joke, students could face ... A threat to the students at Herrin Middle School came to light earlier this ...
   
   
   Get more results from the past 24 hours
   
   
   2 Gig Harbor-area schools boost security after Mayan day threat ...
   www.thenewstribune.com/.../2-gig-harbor-area-schools-boost.html
   3 hours ago – School officials determined that the alleged threat had come from a Peninsula High student, who had made a statement to a younger sibling.
   
   
   Get more results from the past 24 hours
   
   
   Five schools deal with 'baseless' student safety threats - York Dispatch
   www.yorkdispatch.com/.../four-schools-deal-baseless-student-threats-...
   7 hours ago – Eastern, Northeastern, Red Lion and West York school districts and the York County School of Technology all had similar threats by students ...
   
   
   Get more results from the past 24 hours
   
   
   Ponca City police arrest middle school student for reported threats
   www.kjrh.com/.../ponca-city-police-arrest-middle-school-student-for...
   6 hours ago – Ponca City police have taken a 14-year-old into custody for allegedly making threats.
   
   
   Get more results from the past 24 hours
   
   
   New Britain, Newington police investigate threats to schools
   
   www.newbritainherald.com/.../doc50d3cbfc44800288125390.txt
   1 hour ago – Newington police determined there didn't “appear to be a credible threat to Newington High School Thursday.” Students were spreading word ...
   
   
   Get more results from the past 24 hours
   
   
   Police arrest multiple students over threats, weapons | News - Home
   www.ksat.com/news/Police-arrest...students...threats.../-/index.html
   1 hour ago – Police arrest multiple students over threats, weapons. Police: 1 student encouraged others to bring weapons to school. Published On: Dec 20 ...
   
   
   Get more results from the past 24 hours
   
   
   Threat Assessment - National Association of School Psychologists
   
   www.nasponline.org › Resources › Fact SheetsCached - Similar
   Threat Assessment: Predicting and Preventing School Violence ... The use of profiling (i.e., ranking a student's behaviors and risk factors against a set of criteria) ...
   
   
   Two NEISD students removed over alleged doomsday threats ...
   www.kens5.com/.../Two-NEISD-students-removed-over-alleged-doo...
   4 hours ago – Northeast Independent School District officials say both students ... Dozens of Mich. schools close amid threats, rumoradd to reading list; Taft ...
   
   
   Get more results from the past 24 hours