13 Ways You Can Prevent a School Rampage

Here’s how a rural-suburban high school was able to thwart an active shooter and active bomber attack.

Violence in schools by heavily armed adults may be difficult to prevent, but many, if not most assaults by students are preventable. The phenomenon of a school attack can be defined as a large- scale event where several people are shot and/or killed in a school. The victims are shot for symbolic significance or at random, and these attacks are committed by current or former students. 

In the past 12 years alone, 195 incidents were averted where students plotted to kill multiple peers (Madfis, 2012).  Recently, a major plot was thwarted when an observant neighbor spotted something out of the ordinary outside her home in Waseca, Minn. Her quick thinking to call police prevented a school rampage that would have included guns and bombs.

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Here’s how a school rampage was averted at a high school in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States and the best practices personnel at other schools can adopt to prevent future attacks.

The Plot – Echoes of Jonesboro, Ark.

The plan was simple yet potentially devastating.  A 17-year-old student and a 22-year-old companion allegedly plotted to attack a rural-suburban high school.  The student would pull a fire alarm during school and then rendezvous with his accomplice in a concealed location just beyond school property. As the school’s population exited the high school through a centralized stair well, the assailants would open fire on everyone.

A similar plot was carried out in 1998 near Jonesboro, Ark.  Two male students, an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old, committed the deadliest school rampage at a U.S. middle school. Five people were killed, and 10 others were wounded.  It could not be confirmed if the more recent mid-Atlantic incident was a copycat or a demonstration of original thinking.

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In the mid-Atlantic high school plot, some of the weapons for the attack would be built from scratch, and some would come from the student’s home; his father owned several weapons. Prior to this averted plot being discovered, the student and his alleged accomplice stole guns from the student’s home, fired them and were arrested. The student was discovered with drawings of a mine in his school notebook, and it was believed that the suspects were going to use it in the attack. 

‘Leakage’ Helped Save the Day

Several studies, including those from the FBI, Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education, have found that with many attacks, someone knew about the plot before it occurred. The idea is known as “leakage,” and it assisted in the prevention of this attack as well.

The two plotters talked to several students off campus about their plans. The reason for the leakage is unknown. Were they recruiting accomplices? Did they want others to give them credit once they consummated their plan? Regardless of their motivation, after details were shared with others, a student who heard about the plot came forward and told school personnel. 

What motivated the student to come forward is unknown. The student told his teacher, who then passed the information up the chain of command, and the story quickly made its way to school leaders. The school leaders met and decided to call the authorities.

Plotter Didn’t Fly Under the Radar

Several months before the plot was discovered, the student had undergone noticeable changes that were witnessed by school personnel. These included increased inappropriate behaviors and comments; inappropriate sexual comments towards female students; and an outward change in dress and inappropriate drawings in his notebooks. The student was on the school’s radar, and he could not escape it. As a result of his deteriorating behavior and his past criminal activity, when school leaders and law enforcement received notice of the threat, they accepted it as credible.

The student was taken into custody by police at the school. As the student was leaving campus, he commented, “I love combat, and I want to kill.” He was then admitted to a mental health facility.

A search of the student’s possessions yielded a drawing for a landmine and other suspicious materials. As a result of this discovery, local law enforcement contacted the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which was led by an agent from the FBI.

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