Targeted school violence

The tragic events of the February 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and the May 18, 2018 shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, demonstrated the ongoing need to provide leadership in preventing future school attacks.

As such, the U.S. Secret Service, along with many of our partners, have redoubled our efforts and are poised to continue enhancing school safety.

As we have seen in recent months, the pain of each act of targeted violence in our nation’s schools has had a powerful impact on all.

I am proud of the continued efforts of the U.S. Secret Service, and we remain committed to the prevention of targeted violence within our nation’s schools and communities.

When incidents of school violence occur, they leave a profound and lasting impact on the school, the community, and our nation as a whole.

This operational guide was developed to provide fundamental direction on how to prevent incidents of targeted school violence, that is, when a student specifically selects a school or a member of the school community for harm.

When establishing threat assessment capabilities within K-12 schools, keep in mind that there is no profile of a student attacker.

There have been male and female attackers, high-achieving students with good grades as well as poor performers. These acts of violence were committed by students who were loners and socially isolated, and those who were well-liked and popular.

” Despite having a comprehensive targeted violence prevention plan in place, and despite a school and Team’s best efforts at prevention, incidents of targeted school violence may still occur.