Hands down, the school attack that occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School as one of the most emotionally impactful events in our nation since the attacks of September 11, 2001. Why? Because the large majority of the victims were between the ages of six and seven years old. It is difficult for us to comprehend how someone could enact such violence against such innocents.
The Sandy Hook attack had several similarities to other shooting events. The shooter, Adam Lanza, shot and killed his mother prior to going to the school to commit his attack. Charles Whitman killed his parents before going to the Texas Tower to perform his. Within the school, Lanza took advantage of the closed environment to kill 26 victims (at the school) and injure two others, just as Seung Hui Cho had at Virginia Tech. And, just like Cho at Virginia Tech, upon arrival of the first responding authorities, Lanza shot himself in the head, committing suicide rather than facing arrest or a gunfight with armed combatants.
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The remainder of this article is part of the book "Active Killers and the Crimes They Perpetrated," available in print or ebook via Amazon.
Joshua Borelli
Joshua Borelli has been studying active shooter and mass attack events over the course of the past several years, commensurate with receiving training on response and recovery to natural disasters and civil disturbances. Joshua started to outline this series of articles in an attempt to identify commonalities and logistical needs patterns for response.
