The tough decisions parents are making as never-ending threats to schools become the norm
By Michelle Krupa, CNN, Oct. 5, 2024
A week after a 14-year-old with a semi-automatic rifle killed two fellow students and two teachers at a high school in Winder, Georgia, cell phones started buzzing about 50 miles away.
An automated call, then a text from Atlanta Public Schools pinged on the evening of Wednesday, September 11, in the pockets and purses of parents and guardians of the district’s 50,000 students.
‘I’m committing a mass shooting’: Inside the upbringing that helped mold Georgia school shooting suspect
By Mike Bedigan, Oct. 4, 2024
A teenager accused of murdering two teachers and two fellow students in a school mass shooting grew up amid domestic violence and addiction and was repeatedly let down by authorities, family members have said.
Colt Gray, 14, is accused of killing four people in a rampage at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, last month in which he shot 11 people, killing four, with an AR-15-style rifle he had been given as a Christmas gift by his father.
Now family members have told the Washington Post there were multiple missed opportunities to address his ongoing issues of alienation, paranoia and threats that allegedly culminated in him posting "im committing a mass shooting" on a Discord message board before carrying out the threat.
Shootings ranged from a planned attack at Apalachee High to police and security officers accidentally shooting themselves on campus.
By David Riedman, Oct. 1, 2024
The 2024-25 school year is not off to a great start. On Sept. 4, there was a planned attack at Apalachee High School in Georgia. This was the first planned attack at K-12 school with more than eight victims since Perry High (IA) on Jan. 4. Apalachee was just one of 33 shootings at K-12 schools in September.
There were more victims killed and wounded than any other September in the past decade. Even as schools increase physical security, the circumstances of these shootings evolve even faster. One example of this problem is two students shot at Pleasure Ridge Park High in Louisville during the varsity football game on Sept. 29. An adult suspect tossed two handguns over the fence into the area under the bleachers and then walked through the security screening at the gate. As schools struggle to find staffing and resources for security checks, there aren’t extra police and security officers to also watch every part of the 1,000-foot fence around a football stadium.
AUSTIN, TEXAS (AP) — Videos from the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that police originally failed to make public show officers scrambling to treat victims, parents running near the building and dozens of law enforcement agents standing outside Robb Elementary School.
The hours of new video made public Tuesday include body-camera footage similar to what officials had previously released. Taken together, the footage underlines the hesitant police response in the small South Texas city, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers inside a fourth-grade classroom in one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history.
In Arkansas, the United States Court of Appeals affirmed that two school resource officers were not entitled to dismissal nor qualified immunity for arresting two students “at the direction of the school principal.” The students, who “were both cadets in the … High School Air Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (“ROTC”),” came to school “in military-style tactical vests.” After searches of the students “revealed they were not armed or in any way threatening, the officers nonetheless decided to arrest both (students) at the direction of the school principal.” The lower court noted that administrators testified that the student’s “vests did not violate the … High School dress code.” And the records reflects that prior to the (students) wearing their vests to school “at least two white students had worn similar tactical-style vests to school and were not disciplined. One of these students wore a full military uniform including a bullet-proof vest, a nerf gun, and a helmet.” The appellate court agreed with the lower court that the officers were not entitled to qualified immunity on the basis of having probable cause to arrest the students for disorderly conduct under State law. The appellate court agreed that, “in today's climate of school shootings, school officials and police officers are justified in having heightened concern around attire that might suggest a student is armed. But context matters, and schools have many mechanisms to discipline students….(especially when educators) had previously tolerated students wearing military gear, without discipline.” Therefore, “because the district court did not err in denying the Officers’ motion for summary judgment and qualified immunity on the (student’s) unlawful arrest claim, we affirm. Evans v. Cabot School District
In New York, the Schenectady Board of Education “approved a resolution to provide weapon detection measures for the district’s schools.” Officials disclosed that its schools need “a more advanced type of metal detection system that has an AI capability that’s looking for objects and certain things that it learns over time.”
In Colorado, “the family of a Denver teenager who was sitting in his car outside his school last year when he was shot and eventually died has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school district. In the lawsuit, the family of 16-year-old Luis Garcia claims Denver Public Schools, the school board and East High School failed to protect him in February 2023. The complaint highlights that under the Claire Davis School Safety Act, the district and school weakened the environment's safety by removing school resource officers in 2020. Denver Public Schools removed all Denver police school resource officers from their buildings by the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year.
International Bullying Prevention Association Conference
Dec. 4, 2024 | Nashville, Tennessee
Center for Safe Schools Coordinator Leah Galkowski will be presenting "Nurturing Safe and Inclusive School Communities: The Interconnection of Student Safety, Inclusive Learning, and Educator Wellness” at the conference.
Please join the National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) as we release new guidance for state & local law enforcement to prevent targeted violence
Oct. 16, 1-2:30 p.m. ET | Virtual
Please join NTAC for a presentation of our latest publication, "Behavioral Threat Assessment Units: A Guide for State and Local Law Enforcement to Prevent Targeted Violence." Releasing Oct. 16, 2024, the guide offers a scalable 6-step framework for state and local law enforcement agencies to proactively identify and intervene with those who display threatening or concerning behavior in their communities. In this free virtual event, we will outline actionable steps and offer principles and best practices to support the violence prevention efforts of our state and local partners.
All who register will receive a Microsoft Teams event link by email prior to the event.
This symposium goes beyond a typical conference; it's an immersive learning experience that brings together individuals from across the country who are passionate about keeping their schools and communities safe.
Don't miss two days of inspiring keynotes, training on the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) and Standard Reunification Method (SRM), and ample opportunities for networking with foundation staff and peers in the school and community safety space. This is an amazing chance to gain actionable insights into enhancing the safety of your organization and those in it.
October is Bullying Prevention Month, and Center for Safe Schools is dedicated to supporting schools and communities in their efforts to create safe, positive environments for students. Bullying can have lasting negative impacts, and it’s crucial that schools adopt proactive measures to address it.
Center for Safe Schools offers a comprehensive Bullying Prevention Toolkit to help educators, parents, and students better understand and prevent bullying behaviors. The toolkit includes valuable resources such as strategies for intervention, training materials, and actionable steps to foster a culture of respect and inclusion in schools.
