The Lions' Pride

point taken, but I maintain that security at schools is something we can control to some extent. like I said, the school I send my son to has fingerprint recognition to get through the door and plenty of urban schools have metal detectors and police stationed in the school. I appreciate your point, we can't be safe all the time and we can only do so much. However, there are technologies and preventative measures that can and do help prevent this kind of thing.

As for technology to identify candidates.... your are entering into the "Minority Report" issue. I'm a psychology grad student and even if we had the ability to predict that type of risk at a very reliable rate, what can we do about it? lock people up because we think, with a 95% confidence, that someone is at risk to go on a rampage? do we somehow force them into counseling is they have not broken any laws? It's just not feasible and not something we will ever see. That's not to say that we can't do better. The case of the VT shooting is a good example. They had concerns and a chance to expand the services for him. although, he could have refused them though and unless he was making direct threats, no one could force him into treatment.

lastly, unfortunately, research budgets are getting slashed and there is no money to pour.

No, you can't force someone into counseling, and you can't arrest them for what they might do, but you can certainly alert friends, family, etc, so that they can monitor the person's actions and remove easily accessible firearms, as in this case; you can place their names on firearms registries so they can't purchase weapons legally; you can forcibly commit them if they seem to be a threat to harm themselves or others; you can alert local authorities; and you can intervene other ways which might not reach every single person, but could make a significant impact. And yes, at some point, we may be forced to have a hard discussion in this country about forcible medication - injectable, time-release drugs to help those with mental issues remain stable. The resources exist - that was the point of my original post in this thread; we simply have to start thinking about this situation as defense of our population from domestic terrorism, not just "mental health treatment"

that's not completely accurate. Unless someone willingly signs a release, we can not even tell family and close friends unless there is clear threat of danger. Maybe a discussion about changes to the confidentiality laws is a good place to start. What you suggest is already happening, or at least should be happening based on best practices. The issue is that much of the time there is no clear threat of danger to self or others presented. It would be much easier if every person that did something like this was in treatment and telling their treatment providers that they think about shooting people, but that's simply not the case.

I saw this thread up and wasn't gonna comment. I was crying when I heard about this I cannot imagine what these families are going through. Such a tragic situation what is wrong with the human race.

Turns out he broke glass and forced his way in.

I just cannot come to terms...... He had no ties to the school...... he just decided to kill little kids....mental illness, guns, and anything else... it makes no sense....

No she wasn't. They are now saying that was mis-reported.

Wow wtf. Have tried to keep from watching it today.

they said she may have worked (not a teacher) for the school years ago but not formal connection had been made....

It really is like a 20 year old decided to kill children for no reason....

me too. :-(

Lots of people have been wondering about the school safety standards, but turning the building into a prison, there isn't much you can do to stop a determined phycho. .

Yeah, but what's disturbing is that his 15-min of fame came long after his death. Psychopath indeed. Why don't these people kill themselves first? And yes, the media feeds these sicko Psychos by their non-stop coverage.