Averted school shooting in Florida
An Orlando-area teen was arrested this weekend for plotting a school shooting and "suicide by cop" during lunch at a high school.
A 17-year-old Florida student planned to commit a school shooting at Seminole High School during lunch. He planned to shoot as many students as possible and then die via "suicide by cop". He posted a video online showing firearms and describing his plot.
The teen is enrolled at Elevation High School, a charter school about 5 miles away from Seminole High. Police have not identified the teen, so it’s unclear if he originally attended Seminole High. The mission of Elevation High is to graduate students (up to 21-years-old) who are at risk of not completing traditional high school classes.
Police received an anonymous tip on Saturday that was jointly investigated by local police, Homeland Security Investigation agents, and the FBI. The teen was arrested Sunday and has been charged with intimidation through making a written or electronic threat of mass shooting or a terrorist act.
In February, there was also an averted school shooting plot at Seminole Middle School. It was one of at least seven averted attacks across the country.
Details of the Seminole High Plot
Stanford, FL police posted a photo showing seven firearms, tactical gear, knife, and a grenade. Police later classified them as “extremely realistic Airsoft replicas” but it’s not clear if they are the same weapons from the video the teen posted online (the video was taken down before I was able to see it).
Rifles:
FN SCAR-L (top): A modern tactical rifle chambered typically in 5.56x45mm NATO.
AK-pattern Rifle: Appears to be an AK variant (possibly AKM/AK-47 or AK-74 type), identified by wooden furniture and distinctive receiver shape.
Ruger Precision Rifle or derivative (Sniper configuration): Fitted with a tactical chassis, telescopic sight, and adjustable stock.
Submachine Guns and Carbines:
CZ Scorpion EVO 3: Equipped with a drum magazine.
Pistols:
Glock pistol variant: Compact or standard Glock pistol, likely Glock 17 or similar polymer-framed handgun.
M1911-style handgun: Classic semi-automatic pistol with distinctive grip and frame.
Others Weapons:
Fragmentation hand grenade (model unspecified, possibly inert or training grenade).
Fixed blade knife
Tactical vest and helmet with patches and symbols (unclear what the symbols are)
While video games do not cause school shootings or mass violence, it’s interesting to note that these are all weapons prominently featured in the Call of Duty video game series. The FN SCAR, AK-47, Ruger sniper rifle, and CZ Scorpion EVO 3 are available in the game for players to use and customize.
Activision, the maker of Call of Duty, secretly partnered with the gun industry to attract 'young potential shooters'.
Internal emails and company records from Remington Arms, a subsidiary of arms manufacturer The Freedom Group, have been disclosed by a US lawyer following proceedings against the group. They were obtained as part of a lawsuit filed by parents of children killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in which the killer used a Remington AR15 rifle, and were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The lawsuit in question was settled last year for $73 million.
The documents are from the late 2000s and early 2010s, and this tranche relate specifically to 2009's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. They include the Freedom Group's "Gaming Strategy" memo (undated), which says that "with increasing urbanization and access to shooting/hunting areas in decline, a primary means for young potential shooters to come into contact with firearms and ammunition is through virtual gaming scenarios".
Call of Duty allows players to add accessories like drum magazines, scopes, and foregrips. Players can wear tactical vests and helmets with distinctive patches and emblems, like skull icons, which are a symbol used by white nationalist groups and prior school shooters.
Adding symbols to weapons is a sign of a psychological diagnosis known as “extreme overvalued beliefs” when an object becomes a statement of personal ideology.
Guns with inscriptions are symbols of violent ideology rather than tools for utility. School shooters and mass shooters frequently write messages on their weapons. A fixation on guns as a symbol of identity and power is a red flag for mass violence.
Preventing Future Attacks
Most school shooters are current or former students who act alone, are actively suicidal, and plan to die during their attack. The teen arrested in Florida this weekend had all three of these elements. These attacks are usually a violent public suicide without an escape plan that comes at the end of prolonged trauma and crisis.
This is another example of a school shooting that was prevented by a tip from the public. Based on my research with Dr. Dan Hamline (still unpublished because the peer-review process for an academic journal article takes years), more than 80% of averted school shootings between 2019-2023 were stopped because of tips from other students or parents. Empowering the community to speak-up and take action is the most effective way to prevent violence at schools.
There are three steps we can take to stop many school shootings:
Public education and standardized reporting system similar to “see something, say something” so that anyone who spots “red flags” can easily report them to police (read more: What can the average person do to prevent the next school shooting?)
Fully funded crisis intervention programs in every community to help someone who shows risk factors before they decide violence is their only option (see: The Off Ramp Project).
Pass federal ‘red flag’ law that enables authorities in every state to remove access to firearms from someone who is identified as a threat to themselves or others.
I wish I could put a link here to the nation-wide reporting system, but it doesn’t exist. Here is my explanation of how we can create a version of the National Poison Control Center for investigating, preventing, and collecting real-time data on school shooting plots.
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.