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Plumbing the depth of school shootings FBI, Secret Service share expertise with educators here Friday, May 19, 2000 By Rhonda Miller, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
It's a haunting possibility that school officials have to grapple with: kids who go off the deep end and show up at school with guns, shooting.
Taken from “Protective Intelligence & Threat Assessment Investigations: A Guide for State and Local Law Enforcement Officials,” by Robert Fein and Bryan Vossekuil, U.S. Department of Justice.
Trying to find out why this could happen was the topic of a daylong threat assessment seminar coordinated by the Pittsburgh office of the FBI yesterday at Chartiers Valley Intermediate School.
Special agents from the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center in Washington, D.C., and the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., shared results of their research and experience with the 300 school administrators, law enforcement officials and social service representatives who attended the program.
In the study of 40 cases of young people who have shot others at schools across the nation during the past 20 years, U.S. Secret Service agent Robert Fein said that the reasons behind the shootings are complex but some similarities are showing up.
Fein, who appeared recently on two "60 Minutes" TV programs to talk about his studies, said the one common thread is that children who shoot feel that nobody is listening to them.
"Before the shooting they seem to have tunnel vision and can't think of a way to solve the problem. They think the shooting will decrease their pain," said Fein, whose studies included personal interviews.
"Of course, many of them eventually realize they've created more pain. The reason that some of these kids want to talk to us is that now they feel awful for themselves, the victims and the families. They want to prevent this from happening to someone else."
Another big gap in the young shooters' lives is in developing and building connections, especially with adults, said John Berglund, a supervisory special agent for the National Threat Assessment Center.
"Communication is a two-way street, and it's not easy to develop a free flow of information between kids and adults. But that's what we want to encourage to prevent not only school violence, but also suicide, the use of drugs and other problems," he said.
In many cases of school shootings, children let their peers know of their intentions, but don't tell any grownups, said Fein.
Terri Royster, an FBI supervisory special agent who is an instructor on juvenile issues at Quantico, echoed the common thread theme.
"These kids might not be completely isolated. They often have their own small social group, maybe just one or two people, and it's not a positive group," she said.
The other danger signals include low self esteem, a history of aggressive behavior, cruelty to animals and a fascination with firearms or other school shootings.
"A major risk factor is if the person has been a victim of bullying. We've found that in common in almost all of the cases of school shooters," said Royster.
Then there's the impact of media coverage that is often a subject of concern, she said.
"I don't think that the media makes kids commit violent acts," said Royster. "It might give them a new idea on how to commit a crime, but they already had the aggressive behavior."
If parents don't cooperate, resolving the problems becomes extremely difficult, she said
"Parents have to be active in their child's life," she said. "They have to know their children, for instance, who their friends are, what kind of music they like."
The need for parents, schools and law enforcement officials to work together is a priority, said Allegheny County police Officer Mike Spagnoletti, who attended the seminar.
"I'm going to be sharing some of the information from the seminar with the kids and parents at the DARE graduation," he said. He will address 118 pupils today at Kerr Elementary School, O'Hara, in the Fox Chapel Area School District.
"I want to get to them now before they get into trouble."
The information from the seminar about listening to youths and spotting signs of trouble will also be used by Carol Horan, a probation officer for the Allegheny County juvenile court.
"I have a couple of kids that I'm working with now who are making threats in school. I know one kid pretty well and he's had all the necessary disciplinary action taken against him. I keep saying that he's not really going to do this," she said.
"But he has some of the qualities that we've been told to consider. I'm going to take another look at him and maybe approach it with more caution."
Despite all the concern about violence, school shootings are extremely rare and schools are safe places, said Fein.
"It's important not to live in fear," said Lillie Leonardi, community outreach specialist for the FBI's Pittsburgh office, who coordinated the seminar. "What we have to do is practice caution."
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What motivated the person?