I would
like to begin by expressing my condolences to the families and friends of the
victims and wishing a speedy recovery to the victims of this tragedy.
The mass
murder at a school in Nashville,
was an (unfortunately predictable) continuation of a series of similar crimes
committed in schools and other educational institutions, all over the world.
I should
add that on the same day - March 27, 2023 - there was another attack on a
school, this one in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, where 6
people were also hurt, one dead and 5 others wounded. A 13-year-old student of
this school is suspected of committing the crime and the perpetrator used a
knife as a weapon.
I can only
use information that has been published in the media and publicly available law
enforcement reports to analyze the situation. As I have repeatedly said, I do
not assess the motives and personality traits of the offender, I have an
applied task, so I analyze only their actions, in connection with the events.
These
assessments are preliminary, I will definitely continue to collect and analyze
materials on this crime, after which I will do a more detailed review. If
anyone can help me in collecting information, I would be very grateful for any
information, I will indicate the list of questions at the end of the article.
Based on
the available data, I would pay special attention to the important points that
should be considered in the criminological assessment of this event:
1.
According to a statement by Nashville Police Chief John Drake, published in «The
Tennessean», the school was not the perpetrator's original target. According to
Drake, Hale had planned to attack another location, but it proved too well
protected, so the perpetrator chose a less secure site to attack: the school.
Based on
the chronology of events reported in the media and surveillance footage, the
gunman drove to the school in his car, parked it, got out of the car, then he
walked, defiantly, holding his weapon in plain sight, towards the entrance to
the school building, clearly not hiding his intentions.
3.
According to the CCTV footage, the perpetrator entered the school premises
unimpeded. Two external doors were closed, perhaps automatic locks were used,
but this did not stop the intruder, but only delayed him for a few seconds,
while the doors of the other rooms inside the building were open. The footage
clearly shows the perpetrator first breaking the locks and glass of the
entrance doors with several shots, and then walking around the interior of the
building unobstructed, opening unlocked doors.
4. Police
began storming the school 10 minutes after receiving the report of the attack. Judging
by the footage from the body cameras they had no information about the exact
location of the shooter inside the building, the video footage clearly shows
that the officers first search the rooms on the first floor and only after the
shots are fired, guided by their sound, move to the second floor and eliminate
the criminal.
Given the
above, a few tentative conclusions can be drawn:
The school
in question (including in the opinion of the attacker himself) was an easy
target for the attack, and this is also confirmed by the chronology of events.
The open
surrounding area and uncontrolled access roads. The outside perimeter of the
school did not create any obstacles for the perpetrator, and there were no
surveillance or access control systems. This allowed the gunman to drive as
close as possible to the entrance of the building without hindrance, thereby
significantly reducing both his movement time and the likelihood of being
detected before entering the building.
Lack of
physical security, as well as technical means of security and access control to
the building. Another example, the use of entrance doors with large glass
screens, once again (there were many such cases) proved their complete
uselessness as a means of protection. Such doors are not only unable to stop
the criminal, but even seriously slow down his speed. In order to break them
not even a gun is needed, any available tools and improvised means are quite
suitable. In this case, the criminal used a semi-automatic rifle with a rifled
barrel, the shots from which simply broke the glass. However, if he had used,
for example, a large caliber shotgun or an explosive device, in which case the
shards of glass would have turned into additional projectiles if shot or
detonated. In this case, the entrance group, could not perform its main tasks,
namely: blocking the path of the criminal, creating a temporary obstacle,
reducing the energy of the bullet in shots, and the striking elements in the
explosion. In addition, I would say that in the event of a mass evacuation,
such door groups create additional obstacles for the evacuees, and if there is
panic during the evacuation, they also cause numerous injuries. The recording
clearly shows that only the glass inserts were destroyed by the shots, and that
the doors themselves were deformed but did not open. When a door, especially a
double-leaf door (that is exactly what the Covenant school had) is damaged, the
locking mechanism is in most cases deformed, after which it is not always
possible to open it, even using the regular key. Therefore, for one person such
a door is not an obstacle, but for a panic-ridden crowd, especially children,
it can become a fatal obstacle. Nowadays in attacks on educational institutions
criminals use not only cold or firearms, but also explosives, as well as
incendiary devices and even chemical poisons. If such lethal devices had been
used in this case, the number of victims would have been significantly higher.
At the
same time all the doors inside the school premises, on the contrary, were open,
and judging by the video footage the criminal easily moves around inside the
building, gets into classrooms and other interior rooms, moves through the
corridors between the buildings, which are also equipped with doors, some of
which do not have glass inserts. If these doors were blocked, it would force
the attacker to open every door, and thus waste time and ammunition. This would
seriously slow him down, thereby giving the potential victims time and
opportunity to leave the building using safe routes, or to find and equip
shelter inside the building.
In
addition, another circumstance that should not be neglected is the type of
perpetrator. It is important to understand that the typical school shooter is
not a cold-blooded and calculating professional with extensive experience. On
the contrary, he is an emotional, unstable amateur, for whom this is his first
such crime, so he acts within the scenario he has composed himself, and if
something does not go according to plan, he may panic, get scared and run away,
abandoning his intentions.
Any
security system must fulfill the main function - to create the maximum number
of obstacles in the way of the criminal. In this case, I can see that it did
not happen, the criminal arrived and entered the building without any
obstacles, and moved around without meeting any resistance.
Now, about
the response. After receiving information about the attack, the police quickly
arrived on the scene and 10 minutes later the officers entered the building,
and after another 4 minutes the attacker was eliminated.
I would
like to acknowledge the very competent and well-coordinated work of the Nashville police
officers, who acted very quickly and professionally in a situation like this.
The people of Nashville
should be proud of their officers.
However,
judging by the on-camera video of one of the officers, they had little concrete
information when they arrived on the scene. It was all limited to what they got
from the 911 call. Already inside the school building, they were guided by the
sound of gunshots, which the perpetrator himself had used to mark his location.
Had he not done so, there is no telling how much time would have been spent
searching for him and how many more victims there might have been.
To give a
more accurate understanding of the time factor, here is an example: On
September 26, 2022, School No. 88
in Izhevsk,
Russia, was
attacked by a criminal armed with two handguns. The police arrived already in 5
minutes, during this time the criminal managed to kill 17 people and wound 23,
the total of 40 victims in 5 minutes, 8 people per minute - that's the price of
time.
The
overall conclusion is that Covenant School in Nashville
was doomed to be attacked, in terms of security, its level of security, at the
time of the attack was practically zero.
Is it
possible to make schools, other educational institutions and places with mass
attendance of children safe without turning them into prisons?
Yes it is
possible. I have indicated the main list of practical measures I propose in the
second part of my research «Ensuring the
Safety of Schools, Other Educational Organizations and Public Places for
Children from Threats of Criminal and Terrorist Nature». At the moment I am
working on a large-scale update of this study and the development of amendments
and additions to the proposed comprehensive security system, which will include
additional elements of protection, developed on the basis of analysis and
evaluation of experience and best practices in this matter, law enforcement
agencies of different countries.
Note: as I said in the beginning
of this article, when analyzing the tragedy at Covenant School, Nashville, I
used only those materials that were published in the media, and there was very
little data that interested me, not many, important details.
If there
are those among my subscribers and readers who have more information and could
answer a few questions, it would help me greatly in my work to make people's
lives, and especially children's lives, safer.
The
questions I am interested in are:
1. a
general diagram of the school grounds.
The
diagram showing the perpetrator's vehicle route through the school grounds,
from the point of entry to the parking lot.
3. The
perpetrator's route from the vehicle to the entrance of the school building (if
possible with distance).
4. Which
entrance to the building was used by the offender.
5. A
diagram of the location of exterior video surveillance cameras on the grounds
surrounding the school building (preferably with a viewing sector).
6. A
floor plan of the school building, showing the perpetrator's route of travel,
from the entrance, to the point of destruction.
7. Where
the window outside of which the perpetrator was standing at the time of his
elimination.
8. All of
the victims killed by the perpetrator, were they in the same room or in
different rooms at the time of the killing, if different, in what order did he
kill them?
9. What
else did the perpetrator have with him, including clothing, weapons, and
ammunition.
10. What
was found in his vehicle?
11. Who
was the first person to call the police and what did he report?
Thank you
in advance, I will be happy for any help.
I invite
everyone who is interested in this topic, who sincerely wants to make the world
around us safer, especially for children, to work on the project.
Author Roman Grishin
#Covenant #school
#shooting #Nashville
#tragedy #assessments #conclusions #schoolshooting #school_shooting
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