Category Archive: Shootings – School Deaths

School board, superintendent reject ALICE student training to attack armed intruders

Posted by on December 9, 2012

The Canton (MA) school board and superintendent on Thursday rejected moving forward with training students to attack armed intruders under what a Boston Globe article called a “controversial new security protocol” known as A.L.I.C.E. training. “We are not ready to go beyond the point of training staff,” the Globe quoted Superintendent Jeffrey Granatino as saying […]

Do schools, police mislead parents on ALICE training? Students attack armed gunmen

Posted by on November 13, 2012

Some schools and police are teaching students to attack armed gunmen. But are they soft-pedaling the program and misleading parents in the process? A.L.I.C.E. stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. The “counter” component of teaching school students to throw objects at armed intruders and to physically attack them is being question by many experienced educators […]

School police expert: ALICE training is a safety, liability risk

Posted by on November 12, 2012

A veteran national expert on school-based police today called teaching school students to attack armed intruders a safety and liability risk for school boards and superintendents, as well as law enforcement agencies. “A.L.I.C.E. training should be a huge red flag for school and police administrators, especially in the liability arena. Both the legal staff and […]

5 ALICE training myths: Students attacking armed intruders

Posted by on November 11, 2012

As A.L.I.C.E. training advocates work to sell their program to school boards and superintendents, five myths continue to circulate about the program and its concept of teaching children to attack armed intruders. A.L.I.C.E. stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. The “counter” component of teaching school students to throw objects at armed intruders and to physically attack them is garnering […]

Should school police have high-powered rifles in schools?

Posted by on September 7, 2012

The Plainfield (IL) Police Department’s recent request to allow its School Resource Officers (SROs) to store AR-15 rifles in gun safes at their high school generated quite a buzz. (See the Chicago Tribune story entitled Assault rifles in schools a sign of the times.) But was the request really unreasonable? Actually, the request by the police is not unusual. […]

Prevent mass shootings? Aurora theater, Sikh temple, & schools

Posted by on August 7, 2012

“Run. Hide. Fight.” That’s the Department of Homeland Security’s advice for staying safe during a shooting. “Buy a gun. Take self-defense classes. Teach kids to attack armed intruders in a school.” Those are some recommendations from others. Following recent mass shootings at an Aurora, Colorado, theater and at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, the search for […]

Police use school to train for active school shooting incident

Posted by on April 13, 2012

Active shooters have captured more of the public’s attention in K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and other public sites. While I have always emphasized not being alarmist and keeping context when discussing school shootings, it is prudent to include active shooter scenarios in training for law enforcement officials and their school partners. In Shepherdsville, Kentucky, […]

Cafeteria worker saved lives at Chardon High School shooting

Posted by on April 7, 2012

Cherie Reed, a cafeteria staff member at Chardon High School, comforted students and may have saved lives thanks to her quick thinking and action as shooter T.J. Lane fired gunshots, killing three students and wounding two others in the school’s cafeteria on Feb. 27 in Chardon, Ohio. Reed and student Travis Carter, a 16-year-old junior, […]

California school shooting suspect: Warning signs or not?

Posted by on April 7, 2012

The founder of the California Christian university where a shooter killed seven people and wounded three others says the shooting suspect had not shown any signs of violence, according to an Associated Press story on the school shooting published on Saturday. But the same article also said, “Numerous administrators have said Goh grew angry during […]

Beware of school safety analysts’ double-talk, mixed messages

Posted by on April 7, 2012

  School shootings are down, they are nothing new and they are not that common. But please fund my research proposal on school shootings, pay me thousands of dollars to teach you my model for assessing threats of shootings and hire my fellow consultant for a few thousand bucks to show you how many dozen guns he can conceal […]