Thursday marks the one year anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. Since then, there have been six school shootings in the U.S., including one at Frederick Douglass High School in Baltimore on Feb. 7. A recent study from CNN found that since 2009 the U.S. has had 57 times as many school shootings as all … [Read more...]
One year after Parkland, are Americans equipped to prevent school shootings?
MN researchers’ mass shooter database gets federal funding
The Violence Project's Jillian Peterson spoke with reporters at Kare 11 about the risk factors for mass shooters. While there was no pattern, the number of risk factors people experienced before a mass shooting was consistent. There was also often a trigger before the shooting, and suicidality was common among mass shooters. Dr. Peterson also … [Read more...]
Study Could Soon Bring Student Researchers Face-to-Face With Mass Shooters
Dr. Jillian Peterson and Dr. James Densley are leading a team of student researchers in studying mass shootings. A recent grant from the US Department of Justice will allow the research team to interview five living mass shooters and people from their communities. They plan to discuss their initial findings at an event on Hamline's campus. … [Read more...]
Active Shooter Drills are Traumatizing a Generation
Active shooter drills are designed to prepare staff and students for a school shooting. These drills are practiced in the name of safety and to set parents' minds at ease about sending their children to school. The Violence Project's Jillian Peterson discusses the risk of contagion that accompanies mass shootings and active shooter drills, as … [Read more...]
Police crisis intervention training: We need a new paradigm, not a new building
Two proposed multimillion-dollar law enforcement training centers are competing for funding at the Legislature. One of these facilities, the $13.2 million Dakota County Safety and Mental Health Alternative Response Training (SMART) Center, would be dedicated to crisis intervention training. We applaud any and all efforts to properly fund law … [Read more...]