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.
On October 21, 2013, a 12-year-old male student took a handgun to his middle school and opened fire, injuring two classmates and killing a teacher. He then fatally shot himself.
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.
On April 29, 2014, a 17-year-old male student was arrested after a concerned citizen called police when she observed the student acting suspiciously around a storage unit and thought he might be attempting to break into one. Responding officers discovered bomb-making material and other weapons inside the unit the student had asked a friend’s mother to rent for him.
The student later confessed to an extensive plot that involved murdering his parents and sister, setting a diversionary fire, planting explosive devices at his high school, targeting students and the school resource officer for harm, and engaging in gunfire with responding police officers before committing suicide.
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.
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