‘Insiders’ form greatest threat in school attacks
The biggest threat to students is other students, data from 20 years of school attacks shows.
Most school shooters in the last two decades have been “insiders” — male, teen-aged, former or current students, a Florida Department of Law Enman
expert said Thursday. And 80 percent of the attackers told at least one person ahead of time.
Those trends, reported at Thursday’s Public Safety Commission meeting in Sunrise, could help guide efforts to avert deadly shootings and other targeted attacks in schools. Commission members said reforms should focus on preparing teachers and students, so they
know what behaviors to look for, how to report it and how to confront an attacker. Having someone armed and prepared at the school also is vital, they said.
The FDLE’s look at 46 attacks — involving 48 attackers — since 1998 found no distinct personality profile for who might pull off a heinous act like Nikolas Cruz, a former student, did on Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneforcement
Douglas High School in Parkland. But some factors held true in many of the cases, Nevin Smith, a senior crime intelligence analyst for FDLE, told the commission.
Some of the trends: MOTIVE: The attacks are planned well in advance and serve a purpose for the criminals carrying them out. But that
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RESPONSE: In 18 of the 46 cases, the attack was ended by a civilian on the scene. And most of the attacks were complete in minutes. Commission Chairman Bob Gualtieri, sheriff of Pinellas County, said that means communities should be more open to arming teachers or raising taxes to pay for armed personnel in the schools, because it’s clear that the best response will come from those already on the scene. “There is no doubt in my mind from watching the video of inside Stoneman Douglas that if someone had had a gun, they could have easily taken him out and easily mitigated the deaths,” he said. “We can’t afford not to,” Okaloosa County Sheriff Larry Ashley said of providing schools with armed personnel. “If we can’t protect our kids, I don’t know how society functions.” Some noted that an armed school resource officer was at the Parkland school during the shooting, but did not stop him.
INSIDERS: 43 of the 48 attackers had some relationship to the school, as past or present students. Insiders like that are able to exploit weaknesses in security, and can blend in, Smith said. James Harpring, the undersheriff for Indian River County, said that means it’s important to foster an environment in which teachers, parents and students know what red flags to look for, and what to do about it, he said. Smith hinted at the difficulty: “Part of it is separating those who will by their behavior, from those who might, from those who won’t.” In the Cruz case, people close to the family reported concerns that he might shoot up a school, but still, no one was able to stop him. Max Schachter, whose son was killed in the shooting, said the commission should recommend the creation of anonymous tip lines making it easier for young people to report what they see or hear. He said teachers should be taught self defense, as well.
Smith said the wide variety of “how, why, when and who” should tell those concerned with school safety that the next shooter could do something totally different than those in the past.
The commission, created by the state Legislature, is investigating the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and will submit a report by January recommending school safety reforms. The 15-member commission includes child advocates, sheriffs, elected officials and parents of teenagers who died in the Parkland shooting. The commission’s next meetings are Sept. 5 and 6.
The commission Thursday also met in private to discuss a chronology of the shooter’s life.