Guest: Simon C. Osamoh, a former British detective and security director at Mall of America.

Host: David Riedman, creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database.

Book: How to Survive a Mass Shooting: Practical Tools to Prevent Gun Violence and Protect Yourself When It Happens

David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database, Chief Data Officer at a global risk management firm, and a tenure-track professor. Listen to my weekly podcast—Back to School Shootings—or my recent interviews on Freakonomics Radio, New England Journal of Medicine, and my article on CNN about AI and school security.

School Shooting Data Analysis and Reports is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Guest: Allizandra Herberhold, LMSW, works with radicalized, at-risk, and violent teens and young adults to prevent mass shootings and counter violent extremism.

Host: David Riedman, creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database.

Website: Parents4Peace. We center our work on those most affected by extremism—families and targeted communities—while equipping frontline professionals to intervene early and stop hate before it escalates. We address hate at its source, across every ideology.

Links discussed during the show:

* Meme culture, Groypers, school shooters, and ‘Anomie Extremism’

* Discord Platform: What schools and parents need to know to prevent a school shooting

* Another neo-nazi school shooter radicalized online

* Ep 54. School shooter felt "my only friend was my gun"

David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database, Chief Data Officer at a global risk management firm, and a tenure-track professor. Listen to my weekly podcast—Back to School Shootings—or my recent interviews on Freakonomics Radio, New England Journal of Medicine, and my article on CNN about AI and school security.

School Shooting Data Analysis and Reports is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Guests: School principals George Roberts and Andy McGill, both experienced a school shooting on their campus.

Host: David Riedman, creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database.

Website: Principal Recovery Network

Resource: The NASSP Principal Recovery Network Guide to Recovery (In August 2022, the PRN published the Guide to Recovery, a collection of best practices to assist school leaders in the aftermath of shooting tragedies.)

David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database, Chief Data Officer at a global risk management firm, and a tenure-track professor. Listen to my weekly podcast—Back to School Shootings—or my recent interviews on Freakonomics Radio, New England Journal of Medicine, and my article on CNN about AI and school security.

School Shooting Data Analysis and Reports is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 school shooting database and a man with a deep insight on how school shooters take shape. Riedman joins the show to talk about all of the surprising things he has discovered in this trove of data about an admittedly macabre topic. He will make you question some of the ideas you may have on why and how these school shootings happen. Most importantly, he has some very important ideas on how to make it stop.

Full episode on iHeartMedia.

David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database, Chief Data Officer at a global risk management firm, and a tenure-track professor. Listen to my weekly podcast—Back to School Shootings—or my recent interviews on Freakonomics Radio, New England Journal of Medicine, and my article on CNN about AI and school security.

School Shooting Data Analysis and Reports is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Guests:

* David Russell is an associate professor of sociology at Appalachian State University. His research uses multiple methods to explore topics across the areas of medical sociology, aging and the life course, and stress and mental health.

* Jon Gordon is an assistant professor of sociology at Appalachian State University and an ethnographer whose research focuses on violence, gender, and criminalized organizations in marginalized urban communities.

* Kelly M. Thames is an associate professor of sociology at Appalachian State University. Her research interests include criminological and sociological theory, social control, and inequality.

Host: David Riedman, creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database.

Paper: The New Social Roots of School Shootings: A Refined Constellation Theory of Rampage Attacks

Abstract: School shooting scholars call for a comprehensive approach that can integrate idiosyncratic studies, solve definition dilemmas, and foster programmatic clarity. The authors argue that Newman and colleagues’ approach to rampage school shootings can be adapted to any subset of shootings. Using an original dataset, the authors assess constellation theory (CT)—Newman and colleagues’ comprehensive framework—and show how refined CT factors help define and explain rampage attacks amid broad shifts in gun appropriations, social media engagement, punitive school security, and adolescent mental health decline. The findings suggest that (1) duration, lethality, and shooter fatality distinguish rampage attacks as a subset; (2) shooter life histories display a majority of indicators across all CT factors, and the mean proportion of factor indicators is positively and significantly correlated with lethality; and (3) psychosocial support infrastructures represent inflection points in surveillance system failures that create time for other CT factors to gain salience in shooters’ biographical trajectories. This study provides insight into the mechanisms driving rampage shootings and develops Newman and colleagues’ approach as a generative analytic strategy for school shooting research.

David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database, Chief Data Officer at a global risk management firm, and a tenure-track professor. Listen to my weekly podcast—Back to School Shootings—or my recent interviews on Freakonomics Radio, New England Journal of Medicine, and my article on CNN about AI and school security.

School Shooting Data Analysis and Reports is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Host: David Riedman, creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database.

Guest: Josh Novick is a licensed professional counselor, trauma specialist, founder of Trust and Grow Consulting, and volunteer for Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence.

Resources for parents:

* https://www.instagram.com/childlifetherapist/?hl=en

* https://www.nmvvrc.org/media/3tmbuhke/parents_guidelines_for_helping_youth_after_the_recent_shooting.pdf

* https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-safety-and-crisis/school-violence-resources/talking-to-children-about-violence-tips-for-families-and-educators

* https://childmind.org/guide/helping-children-cope-after-a-traumatic-event/

* https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/helping-children-with-tragic-events-in-the-news?fbclid=IwAR04ONybPf1YmQQs82f6Co5PUbh5Kg4Sw0mFPbE1aI3vM894QSc93BFR0b8

* https://www.samhsa.gov/resource/dbhis/restoring-sense-safety-aftermath-mass-shooting-tips-parents-professionals?utm_source=chatgpt.com

* https://www.childrens.com/health-wellness/how-to-talk-to-kids-about-school-shootings?utm_source=chatgpt.com

* https://sesameworkshop.org/topics/violence/

* https://www.nctsn.org/what-is-child-trauma/trauma-types/terrorism-and-violence/mass-violence

* https://violence.chop.edu/types-violence-involving-youth/school-shootings/tips-parents-talking-children-exposed-violent-events?utm_source=chatgpt.com

David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database, Chief Data Officer at a global risk management firm, and a tenure-track professor. Listen to my weekly podcast—Back to School Shootings—or my recent interviews on Freakonomics Radio, New England Journal of Medicine, and my article on CNN about AI and school security.

School Shooting Data Analysis and Reports is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Host: David Riedman, creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database.

Guest: Anne Nassauer, Professor of Sociology, Universität Erfurt, Germany.

Paper: “The only friend I had was my gun”: A mixed-methods study of gun culture in school shootings

Abstract: Firearms are the leading cause of death for minors in the United States and US gun culture is often discussed as a reason behind the prevalence of school shootings. Yet, few studies systematically analyze if there is a connection between the two: Do school shooters show a distinct gun culture? This article studies gun culture in action in school shootings. It studies if school shooters show distinct meanings and practices around firearms prior to the shooting, as well as patterns in access to firearms. To do so, I analyze a full sample of US school shootings. Relying on publicly available court, police, and media data, I combine qualitative in-depth analyses with cross-case comparisons and descriptive statistics. Findings suggest most school shooters come from a social setting in which firearms are a crucial leisure activity and hold meanings of affection, friendship, and bonding. These meanings translate into practices: all school shooters had easy access to the firearms they used for the shooting. Findings contribute to research on firearms and youth violence, public health, as well as the sociology of culture.

David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database, Chief Data Officer at a global risk management firm, and a tenure-track professor. Listen to my weekly podcast—Back to School Shootings—or my recent interviews on Freakonomics Radio, New England Journal of Medicine, and my article on CNN about AI and school security.

School Shooting Data Analysis and Reports is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Guest: Erin Wright-Kelly DrPH, MA, Director of Research and Evaluation of the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative at the Colorado School of Public Health

Host: David Riedman, creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database.

Paper: Trends in Carrying Handguns Among Florida Adolescents: 2002–2022

* OBJECTIVES: This study explored changes in general handgun carrying, in-school carrying, favorable attitudes toward handgun carrying in school, and ease of handgun access among Florida adolescents.

* METHODS: Data were from even years between 2002 and 2022 from the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey, a repeated cross-sectional and representative survey of Florida middle and high school students (N = 701 649). Weighted logistic regression models estimated the prevalence of each outcome. We then calculated weighted odds ratios to assess changes in outcomes from 2002 to 2022 in sociodemographic groups.

* RESULTS: From 2002 to 2022, Florida adolescent general handgun carrying increased by 65% (3.7% to 6.0%) but handgun carrying in school decreased by 60% (1.1% to 0.4%). Female, middle school, and white students contributed substantially to the increase in general handgun carrying, because they had 3.04, 2.16, and 1.99 higher odds of carrying in 2022 than 2002, respectively. Male and rural students contributed substantially to the decrease in odds of handgun carrying in school with 70% and 80% decreases, respectively. Odds of favorable attitudes toward handgun carrying in school decreased by 29%, from 3.0% to 2.2%. Ease of handgun access decreased in odds by 27%, from 18.4% to 14.1%.

* CONCLUSIONS: Florida adolescent handgun carrying is increasing, while handgun carrying in school, favorable attitudes toward handgun carrying in school, and ease of handgun access are decreasing; specific sociodemographic groups contribute to these changes. Prevention strategies addressing the risk of handgun carrying and access should be tailored to diverse sociodemographic groups.

David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database, Chief Data Officer at a global risk management firm, and a tenure-track professor. Listen to my weekly podcast—Back to School Shootings—or my recent interviews on Freakonomics Radio, New England Journal of Medicine, and my article on CNN about AI and school security.

School Shooting Data Analysis and Reports is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Host: David Riedman, creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database.

Guest: Officer Seth Capps, Guardian Program Director, Mineola ISD Police.

Slides: Implementation of a School Guardian Program in Texas

David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database, Chief Data Officer at a global risk management firm, and a tenure-track professor. Listen to my weekly podcast—Back to School Shootings—or my recent interviews on Freakonomics Radio, New England Journal of Medicine, and my article on CNN about AI and school security.

School Shooting Data Analysis and Reports is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Guest: Dr. Dewey G. Cornell is a forensic clinical psychologist, the director of the Virginia Youth Violence Project, and a faculty associate of the Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy.

Host: David Riedman, creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database.

* Behavioral Threat Assessment and Intervention in Schools: School Administrator March 2023

* National Center for School Safety: School Threat Assessment Toolkit

* University of Virginia: Research on School Threat Assessment

David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database, Chief Data Officer at a global risk management firm, and a tenure-track professor. Listen to my weekly podcast—Back to School Shootings—or my recent interviews on Freakonomics Radio, New England Journal of Medicine, and my article on CNN about AI and school security.

School Shooting Data Analysis and Reports is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.