New programs aim to prevent school shootings

Mass notification systems alert students during potential crises.

By Amanda Wysocki

Published April 20, 2009

Ten years ago, 12 students and one teacher were murdered and 27 others were injured during a shooting rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.

In less than an hour, the shooters, students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, managed to completely change the way school safety was handled. Since then, lockdown procedures are practiced as often as tornado or fire drills.

At MU, a mass emergency notification system is in place to facilitate these lockdown procedures. Under this system, text messages, e-mails or phone calls can be sent to the entire campus in the event that a mass shooting or any other sort of violent event took place.

A similar texting system, called WarnMe, is in place at the University of California-Berkeley, Assistant Chief of Campus Police Mitchell Celaya said.

Through this program, students, faculty and staff can decide whether they want to be notified by phone, text message or e-mail if any sort of emergency situation might arise on campus.

Celaya said the UC-Berkeley Police Department also has an active shooter presentation program to hold training sessions for faculty, staff and students.

"We go in person and present things that people can do in case of an active shooter," Celaya said.

Celaya said because the Berkeley campus is located in an urban, densely populated area, their safety issues are different than other campuses.

"With active shooters, sometimes it's someone who is affiliated to the area and there have been other issues, such as mental health or instability," Celaya said. "A lot of times people won't report that because they don't want to get someone in trouble."

UC-Berkeley also has teams for threat management, SWAT and behavioral risk assessment.

Celaya said one of the most important things is people have common sense and report things when they feel it might become an issue later on.

"People need to tell others when they see someone in crisis," Celaya said. "That way, the person in crisis doesn't feel the need to respond in an active shooter scenario."

The Mental Health Department in the MU Student Health Center offers counseling services for anyone who might need it. The counselors at MU specialize in everything from depression and anxiety to stress management.

Since the Columbine attack 10 years ago, there have been several attacks on college campuses.

The biggest attack occurred two years ago at Virginia Tech when Seung Hui-Cho killed 32 people, then himself, over the course of two hours.

Since the massacre, changes have been made to Virginia state mental health laws and gun laws. More police officers were hired at Virginia Tech and every classroom door now has a lock on it.

Last February, a gunman at Northern Illinois University killed five people.

Following the attacks at NIU, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed legislation to create a task force to look at campus security. The task force recommended mass notification systems be put in place at campuses across the state.

Following the attack at Columbine, the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education conducted a three-year-long study on school shootings.

The study, called the Safe School Initiative, found many school shooters felt bullied and have possibly attempted suicide at some point in their lives.

The study also showed there is no specific profile for school shooters, many of them already had access to weapons and the majority of school attacks were planned out ahead of time.