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Introduction to Echoes of Columbine (Start Here)

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I am a mother of 3, from Colorado, USA. I am also a writer, researcher, and Colorado certified victim’s advocate. I began researching school shootings in 2007, just after the Virginia Tech Shooting. At first, I was just toying with the idea of writing a book about a school shooter. Seeking realism I spent what would become the next ten years digging into these massacres. Though I vowed to keep an open mind and put all preconceived notions about my research into school shootings aside, I was shocked to find my views on many things challenged with each new case I studied.  I had to change what the “typical” school shooter looked like in my head. I had to look at the role of parents, schools, courts, and even the media in a new way. Why were the shooters overwhelmingly male? Why were the shooters mostly American? How big of a role did guns really play? And most of all where there holes in the system that could be plugged?  What I learned in a nutshell, is that creating a sc
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Video: I was almost a school shooter... (Colorado Crisis Services)

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Someone who wanted to commit a school shooting didn't, what stopped him? An open letter to Colorado news reporter Kyle Clark called “I was almost a school shooter.” https://www.twincities.com/2018/02/20/watch-i-was-almost-a-school-shooter-colorado-man-says-one-act-of-kindness-saved-me/ One Parkland survivor shares her experienceexperience with trying to befriend a future school shooter... https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/opinion/nikolas-cruz-shooting-florida.html
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Guns and Shootings: Mass Killings Without the use of Guns

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When searching for solutions to mass violence, the guns are only one factor in the overall picture. There have been several cases of mass murder that did not involve firearms at all. What follows are some of those incidents, which had many of the same hallmarks as a school shooting without the guns. Some feel these incidents are proof that gun control will not stop mass killings, which is sadly true. Some people are broken beyond what society can ever really understand. In places where guns are difficult to access, people have found other weapons sometimes to even more deadly effect. Deadliest by far has been fire, which is why all public buildings are required to have sufficient fire safety measures in place. Overhead sprinklers, multiple exits, posted exit plans, fire safety drills. These are all in place to prevent further mass fire casualties. Bladed weapons are the most often used in mass attacks, especially in places with strict gun control. Rarely do mass stabbings end w
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What does the The "Average" School Shooter Profile Look Like? (The Short Version)

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If you came to Echoes of Columbine in search of a way to 100% positively identify a school shooter before the fact, you've come to the wrong place. Any group or person who clams they have any single identifier is just plain wrong. Currently, the only way to find them is to wait for them to hurt someone and then try to intervene as quickly as possible. That method is costing America dearly. Everyone has their pet cause of course. Many have blamed bullying, while just as many say it is easy access to guns. Others blame it on mental health issues. Violence in movies, music, and video games are favorite targets as well. Some say it is the media fascination with blood and anti-heroes. The copycat effect. Lack of parenting and failure to disciple. Weak school structures. Overcrowded classrooms. A godless society. Latchkey kids. Nobody seems to agree where the blame should go, and all of this finger pointing is wasting valuable time. They not only keep happening, but have increas
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School Shooting Data: What is the Menninger Triad? Murder+Suicide by Proxy

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One thing that holds true of every single mass shooter out there, they were consumed by hate. The targets of that hate vary greatly, some mass shooters have cited feminism as the source of their fury, others have targeted religion, some seemed to blame social problems for their ills, while others pointed the finger at society as a whole. If you take the source of the trigger out of the equation you will be left with hate. Pure, unbridled, red hot, passion and fire, hate. Those that left writings behind were often full of anger and fury, reaching out for anyone and everyone who could be to blame.  If you go down even deeper, you will find a deep hatred of their situation, of their life, of their very self. They got kicked out of school, lost their job, or their girlfriend, or got grounded, or humiliated. Whatever the trigger event may have been, their life had hit a dead end.  Freud described suicide as "murder of self," but theorized that those who are depressed
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Remembering the YWAM/New Life Church shooting: Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2007

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YWAM - Tiffany Johnson, 26 & Philip Crouse, 24 New Life - Stephanie Works, 18 & Rachel Works, 16 A home school shooting... Editors Note: This one is stretching the definition of a school shooting or mass shooting I do admit.  I have several reasons for including it in the research, first being that the shooter  at one time attended the youth mission center he targeted first but he was expelled for saying that he heard voices and playing scary music such as Marilyn Manson. So, in a way Youth With a Mission was his school. This was also a church shooting, but a church that had played a big role in his education too.  This one doesn't usually qualify as a mass shooting, because it didn't become one. Given the fact he had 1000 rounds of ammunition in his possession at the time he very well intended it to be. In this case, an armed security officer was there to stop him when he walked in the door and the killing stopped. So, though it is a stretch, it does qualif
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Remembering the Virginia Tech shooting: Blacksburg, Virginia, 2007

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Last updated: March 31, 2018 Date:  April 16 Year: 2007 School:  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Location:  Blacksburg State: Virginia Wounded: 23 Fatalities:  32 Shots Fired:  174/100 hits (60% fatality rate) (carried an additional 200 rounds, 17 10 - 15 round spent magazines were found at the scene) Time lapsed:  9 minutes Police response time:  3 minutes, 5 to break through chains How ended:  Suicide as police approached Civilians involved:  No Perpetrator:  Seung Hui Cho, Age:  23 Family history:  Born in South Korea, his family emigrated to the U.S. when Cho was 8. Relatives were concerned about him from a young age, because he didn't speak or make eye contact, and he was believed to be selectively mute. He was considered well behaved and obedient child, he just showed no emotion. Grandfather reports Cho never called him grandfather or embraced him as a child. Red flags:  In the fall of 2005 Cho's poetry teache
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