WILL WE BE READY FOR THE NEXT KILLING MONSTER IN OUR SCHOOLS?

I have never written a two-word post on this or any other site, but, if I did, those words would be Hell, No!  As in, we are no closer to protecting our children as they (innocently) participate in their classes in their schools (or, worship with their families in church) than we were when I posted my first blog fifteen years ago.  And that really sucks.

Let’s begin with a factoid.  So far in 2018 (May 28), there have been 23 school shootings where at least one person was either hurt or killed.  Since the latest involved a student taking lives and breaking scores of hearts, I thought I would focus on spotting students hiding in plain sight.  Waiting for the best time to strike.  The below factors work for active shooters who literally explode out of nowhere!

I think the latest was in Texas.  I have the details of the shootist, the victims, the school, the responders.  You can, if you wish, look the massacre up on your I-Pad, Tablet, PC, if you haven’t already done so.  Ten killed on the spot, 10 hurt bad.  One or two of those might die in the next few days.

My point here, however, is, all of the Red Flags (or, Signatures of Danger, or Warning Signs) were right there for someone, anyone, maybe even everyone to see and importantly report.  Most of the things I have been posting about for years.  Like:

  • *Fascination with and Possession of Deadly Weapons (Biggggg Red Flag, especially when clustered with teo or more of the following “Red Flags).
  • A Loner.
  • Aberrant Behavior (enough to generate concern, fear among those around student).
  • Anger Issues.
  • Mental Health issues concerning violence, anger, Affect.
  • Writes stories and/or tells stories featuring suicide or homicide.
  • Sees self as victim and talks about avenging loss.
  • Boasts about ability to fight.  Picks fights, threatening language.
  • Police Contacts
  • Life pockmarked by (his/her) Violence and Cruelty.

There are many more of these.  For the sake of time and space, allow me to wrap this up with two more relevant issues that, when combined with some of the above, can become genuine Red Flags.  In this (Texas) shooting and others, the shooter was stalking one of his (female) victims.  She continually turned down his advances.  Another might be a victim of bullying.

So what can you, if you are a teacher, an administrator, a security officer (Resource Officer), student and/or parent do to minimize the chance that your school, church or workplace will NOT be the next killing field?

I have given my thoughts on this in past posts.  Scroll back, baby.  Still, I will try again in my next post.

Until then, Stay Safe.

The Hammer

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