Episode 8: Why does a kid bring a shotgun to school? Convicted school shooter tells his story.

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Episode 8: Why does a kid bring a shotgun to school? Convicted school shooter tells his story.

Jon Romano was depressed and suicidal when he opened fire inside Columbia High in 2004. After serving 15 years in prison, he wants to make sure that other teens get help before turning to violence.

David Riedman

Jul 18, 2024

Transcript

Host: David Riedman

Guest: Jon Romano, convicted school shooter and mental health advocate on TikTok

The purpose of the corrections system is to:

Confine and separate a dangerous threat from society.
Punish an offender for their wrong.
Rehabilitate a person so they can re-enter society as a pro-social contributor.

It’s the department of corrections not the department of confinement. In most states a young teenager cannot be sentenced to life in prison which means that even a convicted school shooter will return to free society.

Jon Romano was confined, punished, and rehabilitated in adult prison from age 16 to 31. He now works as an advocate for helping other depressed and suicidal teens before they go down a violent path of self-destruction.

David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 School Shooting Database. Listen to my recent interviews on Freakonomics Radio, New England Journal of Medicine, and my article on CNN about AI and school security.