Last content update and data verfication was on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at 07:22:00 (America/New York — EST — UTC -5) by MEB MediaX Webmaster or authorized designee.
Details
- Mass Shooting
- Sandy Hook Elementary School
- Municipality
- Newtown
- State
- Connecticut – CT
- Zip Code
- 06470
- Region
- Northeast
- Division
- New England
- Incident Date
- December 14, 2012
- Venue Type
- School-Public (K-4)
- Killed
- 26
- Injured
- 2
Ranking Data
- Preventable Factors/Rankings
- Blatant Rankings - Points Doubled
- 3
- Preventable Rankings Score
- 16
- Preventable Status
- Somewhat Preventable
Preventable Factors
- Preventable Factor Details
Last content update and data verfication was on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at 07:22:00 (America/New York — EST — UTC -5) by MEB MediaX Webmaster or authorized designee.
Takeaway(s):
—When parents, biological or foster, and other caregivers, fail to do their job society is in peril. Such was the case in this case. When your charge is a basket case it’s your responsibility to provide help for him and/or seek help for him of which there’s plenty available. In this case that didn’t happen, in fact, this basket case was enabled by his mother.
—Worse, when you have a charge as a basket case for which you fail to help but at the same time allow him complete access to your arsenal you’re as much a menace to society as he is, particularly when you consider this one taught him how to shoot.
—Armed personnel, good guys with guns, need to be in every venue, including schools.
—Structural security, like bulletproof glass, is cheap and effective, and at the very least provides peace of mind, and at best the ability to repel perpetrators. It should be standard at all venues, at least for entryways.
Incident Preventable Factor(s):
—Behavioral Red Flags Ignored/Response Delayed – Perpetrator Behavior Personally Erratic/Deviated from Individual/Societal Norms:
“Authors [for the report “Shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School – Report of the Office of the Child Advocate” in the section “Final Months before Tragedy”] conclude that there was not one thing that was necessarily the tipping point driving [the perpetrator] to commit the Sandy Hook shooting. Rather there was a cascade of events, many self-imposed, that included: loss of school; absence of work; disruption of the relationship with his one friend; virtually no personal contact with family; virtually total and increasing isolation; fear of losing his home and of a change in his relationship with [the perpetrator’s mother], his only caretaker and connection; worsening OCD [obsessive-compulsive disorder]; depression and anxiety; profound and possibly worsening anorexia; and an increasing obsession with mass murder occurring in the total absence of any engagement with the outside world. [The perpetrator] increasingly lived in an alternate universe in which ruminations about mass shootings were his central preoccupation.” 1
Unnecessarily Accessible Perpetrator Weapon(s) – Weapon(s) Was Unnecessarily Accessible to the Perpetrator:
[The perpetrator] had access to guns through his mother, who was described as a “gun enthusiast who owned at least a dozen firearms.” She often took her two sons to a local shooting range, where they learned to shoot. 2 This is deemed blatant and therefore the ranking points have been doubled.
Editor’s Note:
Why did the perpetrator’s mother allow such an obviously sick individual access to considerable firepower and even teach him how to shoot?
—Venue Lacked Armed Individuals/Personnel – Venue Lacked Armed Individuals (Civilians)/Personnel (Military/Police/Security):
There is no information concerning whether there was armed personnel at Sandy Hook Elementary School on the day of the incident or at anytime for that matter.
Editor’s Note:
A School Resource Officer (SRO) might have prevented or mitigated this incident. However, having one is no panacea. During the February 14, 2018, incident at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 students and staff were killed and 17 others injured, the School Resource Officer (SRO) was present at the site of the incident but did absolutely nothing. He retired after the incident and was later fired for “neglect of duty” and charged with 11 criminal offenses relating to his failure to act during the incident. Three others deputies were also fired for “neglect of duty” for failing to act during the incident. It appears all three of those deputies will be reinstated due to procedural problems with their terminations. 3 4 5
—Venue Structural Security Lacking – Venue Had Limited Structural Security:
Entryway bulletproof glass at Sandy Hook Elementary School might have stopped the perpetrator but definitively would have slowed him down. The cost of retrofitting an existing building’s glass entryway in order to convert it to a secure bullet resistant glass vestibule is approximately $30,000. 6 It has been reported that the new Sandy Hook Elementary school, which was built on the same site when the building where the incident occurred was razed, has entryway bulletproof glass. 7
—Vexatious Cascade of Events Beset Perpetrator(s) – Vexatious Cascade of Events Beset Perpetrator(s):
As illustrated.
Source(s):
1. None. November 21, 2014. “Shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School – Report of the Office of the Child Advocate”. Office of the Child Advocate – State of Connecticut. Retrieved May 25, 2021, from http://www.ct.gov/oca/lib/oca/sandyhook11212014.pdf.
2. None. May 12, 2021. “Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting”. Wikipedia. Retereived May 25, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting.
3. Ovalle, David; Smiley, David; and Neal, David J. Updated June 7, 2019. “Parkland Deputy Who Failed to Confront School Shooter Arrested on 11 Criminal Charges”. Miami Herald. Retrieved June 13, 2021, from https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article231167608.html.
4. Cox, Chelsey. May 15, 2020. “Fact Check: Officer Fired for Failing to Act During Parkland School Shooting Got His Job Back”. USA Today. Retereived May 25, 2021, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/05/15/fact-check-parkland-officer-who-failed-act-shooting-gets-job-back/5194831002/.
5. Kelley, Eileen. Updated May 14, 2021. “Judge Rules Cops Fired After Parkland Massacre Should Get Jobs Back”. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retereived June 13, 2021, from https://www.ajc.com/news/judge-rules-cops-fired-after-parkland-massacre-should-get-jobs-back/WX5T6YNWF5DXZNNZ3BPC7QPOWQ/.
6. None. March 12, 2013. “Schools Upgrading To Bullet Resistant Glass After Newtown Tragedy”. Total Security Solutions. Retereived May 25, 2021, from https://www.tssbulletproof.com/blog/bullet-resistant-glass-upgrades-for-school/.
7. Altimari, Dave. July 31, 2016. “A Sparkling New Sandy Hook School Arrives, With High-Tech Features and Security; Second to None”. Los Angles Times. Retereived May 25, 2021, from https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-new-sandy-hook-school-20160730-snap-story.html.
Fluidity
- Criminal Case Pending?
- Civil Litigation Pending?
- Trending
- ⯅
Administrative Information
- Credible Source Inquires?
- 7
- Are Credible Source Inquires Inline Endnotes?
- Assessment Status?
- Complete
- Editorial Board Approval?
Record Information
- Last Updated
- Lexar
- Record ID
- 5
- Private ID
- U99DXFU
- Date Recorded
- 2021-05-13 19:09:58
- Date Updated
- 2023-10-22 04:11:24
- Last Accessed
- Type Designation