Over 700 Students Arrested for Making Threats Since Apalachee High School Shooting
One of the students, a 10-year-old boy, was arrested and held for 10 days for allegedly sending a threatening Snapchat message from his mother's phone.
By Amy Rock, Sept. 30, 2024
Historically, threats of school violence surge following high-profile shootings. For instance, in the two weeks following the 2018 Marjory Stoneman High School shooting, the Educator’s School Safety Network determined there were at least 638 threats made against schools. However, the number of school violence threats and subsequent arrests made in less than a month since the Apalachee High School shooting is unprecedented.
Since Sept. 4, the day two students and two teachers were killed at Apalachee High, more than 700 children and teens have been arrested for allegedly making violent threats against schools in at least 45 states, according to the New York Times’ analysis of news reports, law enforcement statements, and court records.
The analysis also determined that 10% of the alleged threats were made by kids 12 years or younger. In Middletown, Ohio, a 10-year-old boy was arrested for sending a Snapchat message from his mother’s phone, telling his friends there would be a shooting at several local schools. The boy was held in detention for 10 days and was charged with inducing panic.
2 juveniles shot outside PRP High School during football game, Louisville police say
Sep 29, 2024
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Two juveniles were shot outside of Pleasure Ridge Park High School during a football game against Male Sunday night.
John Bradley, a spokesman for Louisville Metro Police, said officers responded on a trouble run at 7:15 p.m. JCPS security officers requested LMPD to help with crowd control.
Shots were fired in the parking lot area just past 8 p.m. and police found a boy who had been shot multiple times. He was taken to University of Louisville Hospital and has critical injuries.
Biden administration issues executive order to improve active shooter drills
The order calls for federal agencies to help schools more effectively prepare for active shooter drills while preventing or minimizing potential trauma.
The Biden administration on Thursday issued an executive order telling federal agencies to improve school-based active shooter drills.
“The majority of schools are currently using drills to prepare for an active shooter situation,” the White House announcement said. “Many parents, students, and educators have expressed concerns about the trauma caused by some approaches to these drills.”
Research on active shooter drills shows them to be controversial. The drills have been linked to increased depression and other negative psychological symptoms in students.
Learn some statistics about school bus crashes as well as recommended practices for improving school bus safety for all.
By Amy Rock, Sept. 27, 2024
The 2024-2025 academic year is in full swing, and many K-12 school districts are more focused than ever on student safety and campus security. However, an often overlooked part of school safety is buses.
While school buses remain one of the safest modes of transportation for students, it is estimated that 108 people are killed and 13,200 are injured in school bus accidents each year.
According to data collected from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), between 2013 and 2022, school bus crashes resulted in approximately 132,000 injuries. There were also 976 fatal school bus accidents resulting in 1,082 deaths.
In California, the California Court of Appeal upheld the order of a trial court “granting a workplace violence restraining order” in favor of school officials and the school district against a former student. The former student posted over a series of years comments online that she was “ the next school shooter.” After a sibling reported to a school resource officer that a recent visit was conducted “to assess how to commit a mass shooting,” the court issued the workplace violence restraining order. Under state law, a school district may protect the campus from violence by obtaining a workplace violence restraining order when an employee “has suffered unlawful violence or a credible threat of violence from any individual, that can reasonably be construed to be carried out or to have been carried out at the workplace, may seek a temporary restraining order.” The court must find “by clear and convincing evidence that the respondent... made a credible threat of violence.” The appellate court ruled that “in those tweets, she repeatedly expressed her animosity toward the school and her former classmates… several of her tweets referenced her desire to take revenge on the school as well as her former classmates… Viewed in the context of these earlier tweets, the trial court reasonably concluded that J.H.’s subsequent tweets that she was “the next school shooter” and that she would “kill you all” placed a reasonable person working at her former high school in fear for their safety.” Applying the U.S. Supreme Court case of Counterman v. Colorado, the appellate court ruled that the speech was not protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. “Any threatening statement that a reasonable listener would understand, in light of the context and surrounding circumstances, to constitute a true threat is not protected speech.”San Ramon Valley Unified School District v. J.H.
In Michigan, the legislature rejected Senate Bill 1005, a proposal “to restore nearly $302 million in school safety and student mental health care funding that was cut in the new state budget.” The source of the restored funding would be taken from the General Fund. The sponsor of the legislation laments, “a 92% reduction in school safety and student mental health funding is set to take effect… These are not partisan matters, and no community is immune from the risks of violence or the challenges posed by untreated mental health conditions.”
Nationally, a study from RAND finds most teachers don’t think active shooter drills are effective for school safety. “The survey specifically asked whether such drills made teachers feel more or less safe and prepared to respond to active assailant events and teachers' perceptions of their students' feelings about such drills, as well as whether supports were available to students and staff during and following drills. Survey results indicate that more work is needed to understand the impact of drills on staff and students and what schools can do to better support the well-being of students and staff who are required to participate in these activities.”
In Michigan, officials from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and Michigan State Police are celebrating the OK2SAY student safety program in the 10th year of its operation. “The program allows students, parents, school staff and educators to report acts and behaviors that include internal harm such as suicide attempts and drug use as well as external threats such as bullying or planned attacks such as shootings on an educational facility all while maintaining their anonymity. The program is accessible for all schools in Michigan regardless of whether they are public, private or charter schools.”
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
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.
