Posted on Sep 2, 2022
Former classmates of Bend shooter say he was violent. How do schools respond to student threats?
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Several classmates of the 20-year-old who fatally shot two men and wounded others in the Bend Safeway earlier this week described him as frequently violent at school.
The shooter, Ethan Miller, who graduated from Mountain View in 2020, was a seemingly perfect subject for a threat assessment program that schools across the nation are hoping can reduce school shootings and violent behaviors.
“He was always trying to fight and cause issues and start shit,” said Isaac Thomas, who was a freshman at Mountain View High School in Bend with Miller during the 2016-17 school year.
The Bend-La Pine Schools had a threat assessment program in place when Miller was a student at Mountain View. Such programs are intended to intervene with a student before they harm anyone. Officials in Bend declined to say whether Miller was ever the subject of an assessment.
But if Miller was part of the program, what went wrong? And if he wasn’t, why wasn’t he?
Another classmate, Laurel Ibbs, said, “When we found out who it was that did it (the shooting), we were all like ‘Yeah, that fits.’ It wasn’t really a shocker.”
Not long before the shooting, in an online essay purportedly written by Miller himself full of violent thoughts, he described himself as the “quiet kid with anger issues” throughout school. Miller also expressed an intention to attack his alma mater, something school officials said they weren’t previously aware of.
The shooter, Ethan Miller, who graduated from Mountain View in 2020, was a seemingly perfect subject for a threat assessment program that schools across the nation are hoping can reduce school shootings and violent behaviors.
“He was always trying to fight and cause issues and start shit,” said Isaac Thomas, who was a freshman at Mountain View High School in Bend with Miller during the 2016-17 school year.
The Bend-La Pine Schools had a threat assessment program in place when Miller was a student at Mountain View. Such programs are intended to intervene with a student before they harm anyone. Officials in Bend declined to say whether Miller was ever the subject of an assessment.
But if Miller was part of the program, what went wrong? And if he wasn’t, why wasn’t he?
Another classmate, Laurel Ibbs, said, “When we found out who it was that did it (the shooting), we were all like ‘Yeah, that fits.’ It wasn’t really a shocker.”
Not long before the shooting, in an online essay purportedly written by Miller himself full of violent thoughts, he described himself as the “quiet kid with anger issues” throughout school. Miller also expressed an intention to attack his alma mater, something school officials said they weren’t previously aware of.
Former classmates of Bend shooter say he was violent. How do schools respond to student threats?
Posted from opb.org
Bend
Firearms and Guns
Violence
Threat
Schools
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."New year, new training
As students return to school over the next few weeks, new staff are being trained to complete threat assessments.
Scattergood at ESD 112 in Washington recently led a training for about a dozen staff. He discussed the history of threat assessment, talked through the protocol for a level one threat, and asked attendees how they’d respond to specific scenarios. Scattergood said one of the biggest challenges he faces is making sure staff are adequately trained to respond appropriately to potential threats.
“Every year we have many new administrators, we have administrators that change roles,” he said. " … Finding this block of time that they can take to be trained is imperative.”
But Scattergood stresses that the threat assessment process only starts when someone — a student, a parent, a teacher, a counselor — says something.
“If you’ve got a concern about your friend and you’re not comfortable telling the school, tell your parent ... if you are a student at school and something just doesn’t seem right, let a staff member know,” Scattergood said."
..."New year, new training
As students return to school over the next few weeks, new staff are being trained to complete threat assessments.
Scattergood at ESD 112 in Washington recently led a training for about a dozen staff. He discussed the history of threat assessment, talked through the protocol for a level one threat, and asked attendees how they’d respond to specific scenarios. Scattergood said one of the biggest challenges he faces is making sure staff are adequately trained to respond appropriately to potential threats.
“Every year we have many new administrators, we have administrators that change roles,” he said. " … Finding this block of time that they can take to be trained is imperative.”
But Scattergood stresses that the threat assessment process only starts when someone — a student, a parent, a teacher, a counselor — says something.
“If you’ve got a concern about your friend and you’re not comfortable telling the school, tell your parent ... if you are a student at school and something just doesn’t seem right, let a staff member know,” Scattergood said."
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It's the ones that don't express themselves openly, that are the most dangerous, school fights are normal, but his plans to attack the school never came to light, so the admin had nothing solid to go with shipmate PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
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This is an example of what's
soccurring daily in our schools. Why were people are school monitoring and taking corrective interventions
soccurring daily in our schools. Why were people are school monitoring and taking corrective interventions
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