Needles in a Haystack: Teasing out Student Issues for School Safety

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Needles in a Haystack Teasing out Student
Issues for School Safety
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Why do counselors need to know about the
potential for violence ?Counselors are most
often the first stop for intervention What can
we learn from previous offenders for prevention
and safety?

• There is no profile for students who will commit
  the extreme act of violence.

• The potential for violence everywhere in our
  society, especially in our schools, is ever
  present.

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High School Experiences in One suburban High
School

• Hit list assessment at least once per year
• Threats routinely
• Students bring look a like guns to school
• High School basketball star murders lab partner
• Gang shooting resulting in murder at football
  game
• Rival gangs firebomb car- car destroyed
• Rival gangs set fire to a home- family runs out
  in the middle of the night- home destroyed
• Gangs shoot through a home just missing the
  family dog-family not at home

4
Real Life Experiences as Principal in Middle
School and Intermediate School

• Middle school students bring bullets to school
  two years in a row
• Student shoots other students with air soft gun
  at bus stop- outside placement at alternative
  school
• Suicide attempts
• Third grader brings a look- a- like pistol on the
  first day of school
• Threats to do a massacre in high school and
  suicide attempt

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• REALITY CHECKConsider the history of violence
  and potential for it to occur
• Examine past perpetrators

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Brenda Spencer Age 17

• January 1979
• Rifle /Christmas Present
• Used it to shoot into elementary school across
  the street from her home in San Diego
• 8 children and police officer injured
• 2 men dead protecting children
• When 6 hour stand off ended, Brenda explained
  with a shrug, I dont like Mondays.

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Nathan Ferris Age 12

• March 2, 1987
• Honor student
• Missouri
• Tired of being teased
• Overweight
• Loner
• Brought pistol to school
• Classmate made fun of him
• He killed the boy and then turned the gun on
  himself
• Had warned a friend not to attend school that day
• No one listened to him

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Janie Rouse Age 17

• November 15, 1995
• Dressed in black
• Went into Richland School in Giles County,
  Tennessee
• 22 Caliber Remington Viper
• Shot two teachers in the head- one of them
  fatally
• Smiled- looked at the football coach
• Told five friends but no one told anyone for help

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Barry Loukaitas Age 14

• February 2, 1996
• Dressed like a gunslinger from wild west
• Moses Lake, Washington
• Algebra class
• 2 pistols 78 rounds of ammunition and a high
  powered rifle
• Victim 1- 14 years old
• Another classmate fell with a bullet to his chest
• Teacher fell while writing a problem on board
• 13 year old took a bullet in arm
• Took hostages
• Teacher rushed him and put away to siege
• Total of three people dead
• Loukaitas blamed mood swings
• Classmate said Loukaitas said it would be fun to
  go on a killing spree

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David Dubose Jr. Age 16

• February 2, 1996
• Killed a teacher
• School Hallway in Atlanta, Georgia

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Tronneal Mangum Age 13

• January 27, 1997
• Shot and killed another student in front of school

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Evan Ramsey Age 16

• February 19, 1997
• Bethel High School, Alaska
• Shotgun
• Was teased
• Called retarded and Spaz
• Argument with boy- killed him
• Injured two students
• Went to administration- Shot principal and killed
  him
• Police ended rampage
• Two 14 year old friends arrested as accomplices
  who knew of the plan

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Luke Woodham Age 16

• October 1, 1997
• Pearl, Mississippi
• Worshipped Adolph Hitler
• Girlfriend broke up with him- rage
• Slashed and stabbed his mother that morning
• Went to school with rifle and pistol
• Killed former girlfriend and another girl
• 7 others wounded- all students
• Ran out of ammunition
• Returned to car for another gun- AP disarmed him
  there
• Said the world had wronged him and couldnt take
  it anymore. He wanted to show society, Push us
  and we push back.
• Two members of his Hitler group charged as
  accessories to murder.
• Others arrested on conspiracy- charges dismissed

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Michael Cameal Age 14

• December 1, 1997
• Liked to wear black
• Paducah, Kentucky
• Satanist
• Brought gun to school
• Fired on a small prayer group
• 3 girls killed
• 5 other students wounded
• Another student tackled him
• Cameal had a pistol, two rifles, two shot guns,
  700 rounds of ammunition- all stolen
• Had threatened to shoot up the school- no one
  took him seriously

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Andrew Golden Age 11 and Mitchell Johnson Age 11

• March 24, 1998
• Were buddies
• Dressed in Camouflage fatigues
• Gunned down 15 people at Westside Middle School
  playground in Jonesboro, Arkansas
• 5 females died
• Vanload of ammunition and guns
• Golden went into school and set off the fire
  alarm
• Ran to where Johnson lay in position with rifles
• As students filed out, they began shooting

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Andrew J. Wurst Age 14

• April 24, 1998
• Liked to threaten other people and laugh it off
• Took a pistol to 8th grade graduation dance
• Edenboro, PA
• Killed a teacher
• Fired into the crowd
• Wounded another teacher and two classmates
• Banquet hall owner disarmed him and held him for
  the police
• He acted as if it was a big joke

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Kipland Kinkel Age 15

• May 21, 1998
• Expelled from school Springfield, Oregon for
  carrying gun to class
• Returned with semiautomatic rifle
• Went to cafeteria- started shooting
• Killed one student, injured 8 one later died
• Caused a stampede- others injured
• Was disarmed
• Had a knife on him
• Claimed he wanted to die
• Had killed both of his parents that morning
• Booby trapped the home with 5 homemade bombs- one
  he placed under his mothers corpse
• Classmates previously dubbed him as most likely
  to start World War III

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Kinkels Life

• Both parents were teachers
• Belittled by dad
• Couldnt live up to popular athletic older sister
  six years his senior
• After the expulsion- felt he had no where to turn
  and no choice other than to end his parents
  lives
• Was going to make sure he would die too
• Wanted to get back at classmates who made him
  feel worthless
• Appears to have been a psychopath

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• Jonathan Kellerman, child psychologist on Kinkel
  Paraphrase He was calculating, cold, killed his
  parents, spent the night with his bodies, then
  booby trapped them, stole the car, drove to
  school. He wantonly wanted to destroy his world.
  Had a knife strapped to his leg, pepper spray-was
  trying to use it against his arresting officer.
  Detailed premeditation. Previous few years had
  been slowly arming himself with arms and
  explosives. What turns kids like him on, the
  kick, the high, the impulse, the subjugation of
  everyone else. Can appear quiet and shy but are
  emotional flat liners. Signals psychopathy Had
  been involved in petty theft, got caught- knew it
  was another disappointment for his parents.
  Latched on to Marilyn Mansons song, The
  Reflecting God- No Salvation. Embarrassed
  emblems of despair. Collected books on making
  bombs. Was viewed by classmates as an expert.

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Variables on Kinkel

• Parents went to Spain for a year when he was
  young- attended non-English speaking school-
  severe disadvantage
• Experienced other failures early- inability to
  perform athletically like sibling and inability
  to do well in school in Oregon
• Dyslexic in an academic family
• Clumsy- father/ star tennis player
• Disappointed with his parents
• Small and weak
• Looked for ways to empower self
• Poorly managed temper- antisocial activities such
  as throwing rocks at cars- blew up cats and a cow

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• Dad had a temper- frightened Kip
• Dad judgmental- high expectations
• Kip set off explosives to vent his feelings
  (college student bomb and blew up high school
  example)
• Dad wanted to keep guns out of the home- then
  allowed Kip to bring guns in and take safety
  lessons (INCONSISTENT!)
• Kips parents had taken him to a therapist- Dad
  was against it
• Therapist against guns but talked proudly with
  Kip about his own guns
• Had ambivalence from important adults- Adults
  didnt stick to their guns!

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• Kip on Prozac for depression- stopped taking it
• Wrote in journals- Hated self, lonely, wished he
  were bigger
• Crush on a girl- unrequited
• Identified with violent and suicidal popular
  video
• Wrote in journal- As soon as my hope is gone,
  people die.
• Sentenced to 112 years in prison without parole
• Savage Spawn Reflections on Violent Children by
  Jonathan Kellerman

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• Robin Karr- Morse and Meredith S. Whiley in
  Ghosts in the Nursery state violence developed in
  first two years of life starting at conception

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Factors to look for

• Harmful substances ingested by mothers during
  pregnancy
• Chronic maternal stress during pregnancy
• Low birth weight
• Early maternal rejection or abuse
• Nutritional deficiency
• Low verbal IQ
• ADHD
• Lack of consistency among care givers in early
  life
• Ineffective discipline
• Severe neglect
• http//www.trutv/library/crime/serial.killers/wier
  d/kids1/kinkel_2.html

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Dillan Klebold (18) and Eric Harris (17)

• April 20, 1999
• Columbine
• Others knew
• Angry, bitter kids
• Bullied
• Emailed to local police the day before rampage
• Blamed parents and teachers
• Announced their own suicide
• 34 casualties- 15 students dead including
  shooters
• Premeditated over a year- drew maps, collected
  weapons, devised system of silent hand signals
• http//www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/
  weird/kids1/columbine_3.html

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Copycat spinouts from Harris and Klebold

• May 13, 1999
• Four children plotted to force their principal at
  gunpoint to call a school assembly where they
  would massacre everyone
• Two boys were 14, two were 13
• Classmates turned them in prior
• Tried as adults

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More Copycats

• Anthony Solomon (10th Grade)
• June 14th, Sunrise Florida
• Opened fire on schoolmates at Harrison High
  School in Conors, Georgia
• 6 injured

• 13 year old girl crafted scheme to kill
  classmates and teachers
• Met with friends three days after Columbine
• Showed them map of school surveillance plan and a
  hit list of 9 students and school personnel and
  described her get away plan

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A year passes

• Feb. 5, 2001
• Hoyte, Kansas
• 3 admirers of Columbine plan an attack on their
  high school
• Bombs in home, floor plans, ammunition, white
  supremacist drawings, rifle, black trench coats
• All were charged

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And Still More Copycats

• 15 year old Charles Andrew Williams
• March 5, 2001
• Santee, California
• Santana High school
• Small and pale
• Tired of being bullied

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• Told friends he would go on shooting spree- said
  he was kidding
• Opened fired in school bathroom
• Killed two students- one 17 and one 14
• Wounded 13 kids
• Had a smile on his face as he fired
• As he stepped from the bathroom into the quad-
  reloading- firing 30 bullets- went back into the
  bathroom and surrendered
• Lived with his father
• People called him freak, dork, and nerd
• He was one of the scrawniest guys, students
  said
• www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/weird/k
  ids1/cats_4.html

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Steven Kazmierczak Age 27

• Northern Illinois University
• Feb. 14, 2008
• Injured 6 people
• Killed 5 people and then himself
• Hospitalized at a mental health center and spent
  more than a year in Thresholds-Mary Hill House in
  the late 90s because he was unruly at home
• Was in the army for 6 months- psychological
  discharge

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Asa H. Coon Age 14

• October 11, 2007
• Success Tech Academy High School
• Cleveland, OH
• School was equipped with metal detectors
• Brought in 22 caliber and 38 caliber, a box of
  ammunition, and three knives
• 14 year old student had punched Coon in the
  face-he was the first one shot
• Two teachers injured and another student injured
• Coon had been suspended for fighting
• Relationship with mother extremely poor- abusive
  toward each other
• Family services had been involved
• Struggled academically
• Medication for bipolar disorder- refused to take
  them
• Bullying had occurred at school

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Cho Seung-Hui 23 (get video)

• Virginia Tech
• April 15, 2007
• Needed to take medication
• Killed 27 students and 5 teachers- also killed
  himself

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Eric Hainstock Age 15

• Special ed student
• Sept. 29, 2006
• Cazenovia, WI
• History of threatening student
• Killed the principal

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Alvaro Rafael Castillo Age 19

• Orange High School
• August 30, 2006
• Hinsborough, NC
• 2 pipe bombs, rifle, and shot gun
• Used a smoke bomb before firing at random
• Injured a senior
• Killed father before the attack
• Was a graduate of the school

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Vincent Wane Leodoro, teenager

• Feb 23, 2006
• Rosenburg High School
• Oregon
• One student shot in the back- survived

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Ken Bartley Jr. Age 15 (picture)

• November 8, 2005
• Shot the principal and two assistants
• Killed one and seriously injured the others and
  himself
• Was a known trouble maker

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Jeff Weise Age 16

• March 22, 2005
• Red Lake High school, Minnesota
• Shot his grandfather and his grandfathers friend
• Grandfather was a police sergeant
• Shot security guard at school
• Shot students at random at close range for ten
  minutes killing five students- seven others
  wounded

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Why did they do it?
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Exceptional Research To Use!

• FBI Academy
• National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime
• Critical Incident Response Group
• FBI Threat Assessment Perspective
• Mary Ellen OToole PhD Supervisory Special Agent
  FBI. The School Shooter A Threat Assessment
  Perspective

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• Adolescent violence has declined (in terms of
  homicides) since 1993- Good news!
• Be aware that more than half of the attacks end
  before law enforcement can respond
• Many incidents lasted 20 minutes or less
• School shootings and other forms of violence
  involve schools, families and the communities-
  not just a law enforcement problem
• There is not one factor that can solve the issue

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• Counselors are often times the first
  interventionist

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What to look for

• All threats are not created equal
• We need a systematic approach to threat
  assessment
• Definition of a threat
• An expression of intent to do harm or act out
  violently against someone or something. Spoken,
  written or symbolic, motioning with ones hands
  (ex. shooting at another person.
• All threateners are not equal. Most threateners
  are unlikely to carry out their threat.
• Threat risk in terms of low, middle, and high
  should be determined. Counselors are in an
  excellent position to advise.

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Also look at..

• Motivation of the Threat
• Motivation can be a warning signal, reaction to
  fear of punishment or other anxiety or demand for
  attention
• Can be intended to taunt, intimidate, assert
  power or control, to punish, manipulate or
  coerce, frighten, terrorize, strike back for
  injury or injustice, to disrupt, to test
  authority, or to protect ones self
• Underlying emotions can be love, hate, fear,
  rage, desire for attention, revenge or
  excitement, or recognition
• Motivation cannot be known with complete
  certainty
• After a person has absorbed an emotional setback
  and calmed down or when the effects of drugs or
  alcohol have worn off, motivation to act on a
  violent effect may have diminished

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Signs and Threat AssessmentCounselor is VITAL!

• People do not switch instantly from non-violence
  to violence
• There is normally a brooding about frustration or
  disappointment
• Fantasies of destruction or revenge in
  conversations, writings, drawings, or other
  actions
• Signs are the types of threats
• A direct threat, indirect threat, veiled threat,
  or conditional threat
• A direct threat- I am going to place a bomb in
  the schools gym- clear and explicit
• Indirect threat- If I wanted to, I could kill
  everyone at this school- Vague and ambiguous
• Veiled threat- we would be better off without you
  around any more- strong implication but not an
  explicit threat
• A conditional threat- if you dont pay me a
  million dollars, I will place a bomb in the
  school- Used often in extortion cases

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• To assess threat risk level you need specific
  plausible details i.e. the means and the
  method-date, time and place and identity of
  victim or victims
• Assess emotional content of threat- look at the
  language i.e. Melodramatic words- if in writing,
  punctuation (lots of exclamation points)
• Precipitating stressors- assess circumstances,
  reactions, surroundings and other context clues
  of the threat
• The next step in assessing risk level is look at
  the underlying personality traits,
  characteristics, and temperament of the student
• Have they been fantasizing about violence or
  acting violently?
• Is there a vulnerability to loss and depression?

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Levels of Risk

• Vague, indirect, information is inconsistent,
  implausible, lacks realism, content seems
  improbable or impossible, or lacks detail
• Medium level threat risk- more direct and
  concrete, wording shows evidence or some thought
  or planning, suggestion or indication of possible
  place and time, but short of a detailed plan, on
  strong indication of preparatory steps, may
  include words Im serious or I really mean
  this.
• High level threat risk- threat is direct,
  specific, plausible, concrete steps have been
  taken toward carrying it out/planned

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Four Pronged Assessment Model

• Assess personality of the student, family
  dynamics, school dynamics, students contextual
  role and social dynamics
• Personality clues-
• Coping skills with conflicts, disappointment
  stressors, failures and insults, expression of
  anger, rage, and other emotions, demonstrates or
  fails to demonstrate resiliency analyze how
  student feels about self, and students belief of
  others perceptions of him/her, responding to
  rules, instruction, or authority figures,
  demonstrating and expressing a desire or need for
  control, attention, respect, admiration,
  confrontation or other needs, demonstrating
  empathy, demonstrating respect, disrespect or
  inferiority towards others

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• The counselor must look for leakage i.e. clues
  that reveal feelings, end of the world
  philosophy, threats or comments followed by I
  was just joking or I didnt really mean that.
• Assess low frustration tolerance (easily hurt,
  angered, insulted), assess poor coping skills
  )exaggerated reactions), lack of resiliency
  (student obsesses, ruminates), assess failed love
  relationship
• Assess injustice collectors (people who hold
  grudges) Karas example- student in high school
  in love with student in high school who had a
  girlfriend-threatened to bomb, kill, persisted
  over time

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• Assess signs of depression, narcissism
  (self-centered, lacks empathy, and embraces roll
  of victim for sympathy or feels superior for
  others, may be very thin-skinned or very
  thick-skinned to criticism)
• Access alienation
• Access dehumanizing of others
• Access lack of empathy
• Exaggerated sense of entitlement, attitude of
  superiority, exaggerated need for attention,
  externalizing blame (refuses to take
  responsibility for own actions, faults other
  people)

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• Assess masks, low self esteem, anger management
  ability, intolerance level, inappropriate humor,
  manipulating of others, lack of trust, closed
  social group, change in behaviors (dress,
  disregard for rules, schedules), rigid and
  opinionated, unusual interest in sensational
  violence (expresses a desire to carry out
  justice), fascination with violence filled
  entertainment, and negative role models.
• Example of Karas student- Junior in High School
  and NIU threat to slaughter everyone just to see
  the horror on everyones faces to just to see how
  great that would be and subsequent suicide
  attempt. Pay attention to your gut feelings.
  Give parking lot examples. Of course assess
  students access to weapons.

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• Family dynamics
• Family patterns of behavior, thinking, beliefs,
  traditions, roles, customs, and values
• Turbulent parent/child relationship
• Acceptance of pathological behavior on part of
  parent
• Access to weapons
• Lack of intimacy
• Student rules the roost
• No limits or monitoring of TV and internet

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• School dynamics
• Is there a big discrepancy between students
  perceptions and the administrations
• Students attachment to school (if detached,
  possible concern)
• Tolerance for disrespectful behavior on the part
  of the school
• Inequitable disciple (perception of student or
  staff)
• Inflexible culture
• Pecking order among students
• Code of silence
• Unsupervised computer access

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• Social dynamics
• The dynamics that exist within the larger
  community. The students beliefs, opinions,
  choice of friends, activities, entertainment,
  reading material, drugs, alcohol, weapons. Peer
  group plays a crucial role with violent students.
  
• Media entertainment technology (student has easy
  and unmonitored access to movies, computer games,
  etc with extreme violence and/or pornography

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• Peer groups
• Drugs and alcohol
• Outside interests
• The copy cat effect
• Student intensely and exclusively involved with a
  group/share fascination with violence or
  extremist beliefs
• Any of the above is not a check list to use with
  a student.

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• YOU MUST CONSIDER
• DEPRESSION, NARCACISTIC PERSONALITY
  CHARACTERICS/MENTAL ILLNESS PROBLEMS AS WELL AS
  SUBSTANCE ABUSE
• THESE FACTORS MAY SIGNIFICANTLY ELEVATE THE
  RISK FOR VIOLENCE FROM A STUDENT.

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Counselors role in threat management

• Multidisciplinary team with counselor and
  advisory role in addition to dean and possible
  law enforcement advisement
• Follow protocol to assess threat risk levels in
  relation to the aforementioned pronged model.

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• In summary, students do not just snap
• They have a plan in they are going to commit
  violence
• When you intervene with these kids, keep them
  talking, verbalizing, use a cathartic method, try
  to use examples student can relate to in order to
  tap into students ability to empathize.
• Attackers acted alone in at least 2/3 of
  cases-talk with friends of student -1/3 knew!
• In almost half of the cases, friends or fellow
  students influenced or encouraged the attacker to
  act
• In a number of cases, bullying played a key
  role-Take bullying comments seriously
• Preventing School Shootings A Summary of U.S.
  Secret Service Safe School Initiative Reports.
  NIJ Journal no. 248, 2002.

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Be PROACTIVE and POSITIVE!

• Counselors are the key to our students futures.
  
• Use knowledge, experience and influence to
  intervene as successfully as you can.
• Ex. high school student who attempted suicide and
  was on psychotropic drugs, cyanide incident.
  Student went on to college----Mentally ill can be
  monitored.
• So can the student who has other difficulties!