As School Shootings Abound, Vermont Police Terrify Kids with Fake One
One parent wondered why the police carried out the exercise at all.
By Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, June 6, 2024
Police officers in Burlington, Vermont, opted for an unusual teaching method for an active shooting simulation: inflicting pure terror.
Roughly 20 Burlington High School students were touring the Burlington Police Station Wednesday as part of a year-end forensics program when the authorities decided to stage a surprise active shooter demonstration, with one officer bursting into the room dressed as a masked gunman, firing blanks and sending students ducking for cover, reported Vermont’s weekly paper Seven Days.
17-year-old fatally shot while trying to break up a fight outside Seattle high school: Police
The suspect fled the scene and has not been found, police said.
By Emily Shapiro, June 7, 2024, 11:55 a.m.
A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed when he apparently tried to break up a fight outside his Seattle high school, according to authorities.
The teen was shot multiple times in the Garfield High School parking lot at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, and he died later on Thursday at a hospital, Seattle police said.
Principal: ‘Senior assassin’ game caused scare that sent 2 Port Washington schools into lockdown
On Wednesday, the school received a notification from the Port Washington Police Department about a potentially armed individual near the community.
June 7, 2024, 6:33 a.m.
A scare that sent two Port Washington schools into lockdown this week turned out to be an end-of-year game for senior students, according to Schreiber High School’s principal.
On Wednesday, the school received a notification from the Port Washington Police Department about a potentially armed individual near the community.
However, principal Kathryn Behr said in a letter to parents that it was actually a student playing “senior assassin,” a game where competitors use water guns to eliminate their targets.
In New York, the United States District Court held that school officials did not infringe on the First Amendment free speech rights of a student when they disciplined him for an off-campus posting on Snapchat. The case arose out of an incident when the student, along with three fellow students, mimicked the murder of George Floyd by a police officer with a photo that, “depicts (the student) lying on the ground while his friend …kneels over him.” The student posted the photo to his Snapchat story with the caption “Cops got another,” where it was visible “to all of his Snapchat friends—approximately 60 to 100 people, including a good amount of students at Livingston Manor High School.” The court upheld the discipline of suspending the student from school and extracurricular activities, distinguishing the 2021 case of Mahanoy Area Sch. Dist. v. B. L. by & through Levy where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the suspension from a junior varsity cheerleading squad of a student based on her use of profanity in an off-campus social media post violated the First Amendment. The court stated that “here, the facts are distinguishable from Mahanoy, in which the Court found no evidence in the record of the sort of ‘substantial disruption’ of a school activity or a threatened harm to the rights of others that might justify the school's action…the Court finds not only that District personnel reasonably portended a substantial disruption given the response to the photos the same night they were posted, but also that Defendants have established actual disruption based on the events occurring at the school the day after the photo was posted.” As a result, the First Amendment did not apply because schools have “an interest in maintaining order within its schools, promoting tolerance and respect, and ensuring students feel comfortable and secure within the school environment (and) when the impact of a student's speech spills into school grounds in a manner so instantaneous and significant, the speech falls outside of the First Amendment's ordinary protection.” Leroy v. Livingston Manor Central School District
In Washington State, a student was killed in a high school shooting in Seattle that is triggering a debate over the decision of the school board to remove campus police from the school district. The deceased student was attempting to break up a fight.
In Massachusetts, officials in Marion are deploying a comfort dog for students at a local elementary school. The canine “will help with de-escalation and provide comfort to children and staff in need who may be experiencing or have experienced trauma.”
In Kansas, the Kansas legislature introduced House Bill 2641. Its provisions would require all school districts in the state to prohibit the use of cell phones during school hours. “Exceptions would be made for educational purposes authorized by a teacher or administrator and to accommodate medical needs, special education commitments and emergency incidents."
Helping the Helpers: Identifying Vicarious Trauma and Effective Interventions for BTAM Teams
Please join us on June 25, 2-3:30 p.m. EST for the National Threat Evaluation and Reporting (NTER) Program Office's Quarterly Webinar Series: "Helping the Helpers: Identifying Vicarious Trauma and Effective Interventions for BTAM Teams." The term vicarious trauma refers to the emotional distress experienced by individuals who witness or hear about the traumatic experiences of others, often occurring among law enforcement officers, first responders, and threat assessment professionals. The impact of vicarious trauma can range from emotional numbness to burnout. This webinar will provide an opportunity for participants to learn how vicarious trauma interferes with their work, relationships, and everyday life. More importantly, we will delve into some practical strategies and tools that we can all use to improve our emotional and psychological health and well-being.
An averted incident of school violence is a shooting or other planned violent attack that was prevented before any injury or loss of life occurred at the targeted educational institution.
Since 2015, school personnel, law enforcement officers, mental health professionals, and others involved in school safety have had the opportunity to share their averted school violence stories and lessons learned, in order to improve school safety and help prevent future tragedies.
In reviewing cases for inclusion in the database, we look for means, opportunity, motive, and intent to carry out a targeted school attack. Incidents of violence on school grounds not related to the school (e.g., gang-related violence) and social media threats not deemed credible by law enforcement are excluded from the database.
Sharing your story is an anonymous, secure, non-punitive, and confidential process.
SchoolSafety.gov’s new issue brief highlights elements of effective K-12 emergency planning, including the value of practicing emergency scenarios and planning for individuals with access and functional needs. The brief also includes a listing of resources, trainings, and guides to support schools in creating comprehensive and inclusive emergency operations plans.
Download and share this new brief with K-12 school leaders and personnel in your network to help inform emergency planning efforts that may take place over the summer break or during the upcoming school year.
The establishment of an external door and window numbering system can be extremely valuable to emergency responders and will also assist your students and staff in acclimating themselves to door locations in case of an emergency. Request a free copy of our updated Model Door and Window Classroom Numbering System Guide.
Trigger Points: Inside the Mission to Stop Mass Shootings in America
By Mark Follman
Through meticulous reporting and panoramic storytelling, award-winning journalist Mark Follman chronicles the decades-long search for identifiable profiles of mass shooters and brings readers inside a groundbreaking method for preventing devastating attacks. The emerging field of behavioral threat assessment, with its synergy of mental health and law enforcement expertise, focuses on circumstances and behaviors leading up to planned acts of violence—warning signs that offer a chance for constructive intervention before it’s too late.
Thank you,
Joey Melvin
Director
Center for Safe Schools
Visit CSS website for more about our services and resources.
