With the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting approaching on April 20th, an 18 year old girl who held an ‘infatuation’ with the shooting threatened to to shoot students in Colorado schools. This caused over 20 schools in Denver and surrounding areas to be shut down to protect the lives of their students. Her threats to “commit an act of violence in the Denver metropolitan area” caused for a massive manhunt from the FBI and other police agencies. Fear built as she flew from her Florida home to Colorado and purchased a pump-action shotgun and ammunition after landing in the state. She had made verbal threats (though not yet released to the public) that caused concern to the police and many believe that she suffered from a mental illness. Recent sources have released that she has been found dead and locked-down districts in Colorado are no longer in direct danger. However, with the anniversary of such an event happening, officials all over are staying weary of possible copycats and those interested in the actions of the two students who killed 13 people 20 years ago.
Questions:
- What can authorities do to prevent such infatuations and acting on wanting to be like the killers of Columbine?
- Has the dramatically publicized stories and names of the original Columbine shooters caused more interest and desire for copycats?
- What other factors besides mental illness could have lead to her interest in the tragedy?
- Why are anniversaries of tragedies the most dangerous time for potential copycats?
- Should reporters refrain from releasing the names and stories of the people who commit such acts of violence? Why or why not?
Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fbi-seeks-woman-infatuated-with-columbine-in-colorado-schools-threat-columbine_n_5cb68f96e4b0ffefe3b8bf41
I believe there should be program for officers to take reports on people planning on such events more seriously and to increase funding for mental health programs for individuals such as her. Anniversaries are particularly dangerous because copycats who admire the killers would want to get famous by pulling off a similar attack. I do think reporters should still release the names of these attackers, but they should restrict the ways these names can be published.
ReplyDeleteI do believe the immense news coverage and media coverage in general added to the infatuation with this tragedy, but I also believe that the coverage is beneficial because it helps bring change to legislation and people's minds when voting. With that being said, I really don't believe there could be any other reason besides mental illness that could have led to her wanting to repeat the Columbine shooting. Authorities and our government can create mental health resource programs and rehabilitation programs in order to attempt a decrease in mental illness and more positive outcomes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brooke and Jeremy above that the media’s coverage of attacks such as Columbine creates a desirable incentive for mentally unstable individuals to copy the actions they see. That being said, I strongly believe the media should be restricted regarding the way they cover the stories, and should not be allowed under any circumstances to publish any pictures of the shooter’s face especially if the individual has already been caught an placed in custody. Projecting their face only glorifies the position they are in and grants the attention they desired when they decided to commit the crime; in a similar manner, unstable individuals seeing the shooter’s face on the media may seek the same unhealthy attention to have their own face glorified for others which creates more of an incentive to copy those violent actions. While I understand other factors besides mental health may prompts these violent occurrences, I still think mental health is by far the most prevalent cause. The government should therefor direct more attention towards creating programs that support individuals with mental illnesses and increase the level of education about mental health in schools so the issue may be identified and addressed early at a young age.
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