Inappropriate interests and weapons access

Gather information about whether the student has shown | In addition to determining whether the student has any an inappropriate or heightened interest in concerning topics such as school attacks or attackers, mass attacks, or other types of violence.

These interests might appear in the student’s communications, the books the student reads, the movies the student watches, or the activities the student enjoys.

The context of the student’s interests is an important factor to consider. For example, a student’s interest in weapons may not be concerning if the student is a hunter or is on the school’s rifle team, with no evidence of an inappropriate or unhealthy fixation on weapons.

In other situations, the context surrounding a student’s interest in weapons could be of concern. For example, if a student is fixated on past school shooters or discusses what firearm would be best to use in a mass attack.

inappropriate interests or fascination with weapons, the Team should assess whether the student has access to weapons.

Because many school attackers used firearms acquired from their homes, consider whether the family keeps weapons at home or if there is a relative or friend who has weapons.

Sometimes parents who keep weapons at home incorrectly assume that their children are unaware of where they are stored or how to access them.

If there are weapons at home, the Team should determine if they are stored appropriately and if the student knows how to use them or has done so in the past.

The Team should also remember that firearms are not the only weapons to be concerned about. Even though many school attackers have used firearms in carrying out their attacks, explosives, incendiary devices, bladed weapons, or combinations of these weapons have been used in past attacks.

In the months leading up to his attack, the student conducted numerous internet searches for violent material and content, including “Top 10 evil children,” “Super Columbine Massacre Role Playing Game,” ”shoot,” “guns,” “bullets,” “revenge,” “murder,” “school shootings,” and “violent game.” He also searched for music videos of and songs about school shootings. On his cell phone, the student had saved photos of violent war scenes and images of the Columbine High School shooters.

He also enjoyed playing video games, doing so for several hours each night. Of his 69 video games, 47 were first-person shooter or similar games.

The student admitted that at some point he became fascinated with chemicals, explosives, and weapons and began researching how to build his own explosive devices. He created his own channel on YouTube to post videos that showed him detonating his devices and included a written commentary about each video.

At some point prior to his attack, the student posted content supportive of the attacks at Columbine High School in an online forum, upsetting many of the forum’s users.

At the very least, carrying out an attack requires that the student has access to a weapon and the ability to get that weapon to school undetected.

According to reports, his father owned a pistol and a shotgun. In January 2014, the student wrote in his diary that he wanted to use his father’s pistol for his attack, but was unable to locate it so he used the shotgun instead.

On June 10, 2014, a 15-year-old male student brought a rifle, handgun, nine magazines with ammunition, and a knife into the boy’s locker room at his high school. He had taken the weapons from his brother’s locked gun case in his home.

Prior to his attack, the student was an ordained deacon at his church and was appointed president of the deacon’s quorum. He participated in youth night at the church, Boy Scouts, youth basketball, and track. Friends described him as friendly and outgoing. He was also a member of the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) and was fascinated with guns and the military.

Concern may be heightened if the student is struggling emotionally, having trouble overcoming setbacks or losses, feeling hopeless, preoccupied with others who engaged in violence to solve problems, or has access to weapons.

Create a situation that is less prone to violence by asking the family or law enforcement to block the student’s access to weapons, while also connecting the student to positive, prosocial models of behavior.