I. DEFINING THE ISSUE
School Shooting Tragedies: What Are They?
A Response to School Shootings - Trauma's Long Term Effects on Schools and Communities
* School shootings are defined as a shooting which occurs on the school grounds, on
the way to or from school, or at a school sponsored event.
Findings from the Chardon High School Shooting, Chardon, Ohio, February 27, 2012
James C. Adams, CEO, Geauga County Board of Mental Health & Recovery Services
* Mass school shooting events are VERY rare.
* During the 2009-2010 school year there were approximately 50 million students attending classes through the twelfth grade in the U.S. During that same time period, there
were 17 recorded school shooting deaths, all single fatalities, which made up less than
2% of all school related deaths for the year.
* Only 12 mass school shooting events occurred in the last 20 years.
* One-on-one shootings make up the vast majority of school shootings. Most often, the
shooter is searching out one specific person.
* To date, there are no reliable assessment tools that can accurately predict a school
shooting perpetrator. At Columbine High School, the two shooters had successfully completed an early intervention program for at-risk youth.
* At Chardon High School, the lone shooter had posted images of himself with weapons
on the internet.
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold
Columbine High School
INTRODUCTION
On the morning of February 27, 2012, the Chardon (Ohio) High School cafeteria erupted in gunfire. In just 38 seconds, six students were shot, of which three
would subsequently die of their wounds. An array of behavioral health care agencies provided immediate mental health care to the school district’s students
and staff, and the community at large. That care continues to this day as the Chardon community continues to recover.
Since 1990, the U.S. has experienced more than 190 school shooting events, occurring at every level of the educational system, at preschools (Miami, FL), elementary schools (Newtown, CT), middle
schools (Sparks, NV), high schools (Centennial, CO; Chardon, OH; Marysville, WA; Troutdale, OR), and universities (Hazard, KY; Isle Vista, CA; Tallahassee, FL). From 2000-2013 alone, these events have cost
the lives of 117 individuals, wounded 120 others, and psychologically traumatized thousands of students, school staff, and their families (Blair et al., 2014). Little research has been done on how a school
and the community recover days, weeks, months and even years after such an unimaginable event. The Geauga County Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services has overseen much of the recovery efforts within the Chardon community and beyond. Through a joint effort with Case Western Reserve University and the University of Toledo, we are learning how individuals, and communities as a whole, respond to these tragic shootings. We hope our work today will be of help to others in the future, and bring some measure of healing and meaning to this horrific event.
Thomas J. (T.J.) Lane
Chardon High School
V. LONG TERM EFFECTS
The Global Impact of Trauma:
* Anecdotal evidence suggests that local deaths due to overdose and suicide increased over time after the high school shooting. Individuals closest to the event
were most susceptible. Russell King, Sr., the father of one of the victims, died of a
heroin overdose on the 2nd anniversary of the event. Adam Nolan, half-brother to
the perpetrator, died of an overdose less than nine months after the shooting.
* Out of county residential treatment rates for youth ages 12-18 climbed to more
than double the previous years total, in less than 10 months. One youth was quoted as saying he wanted to, “finish what T.J.
Lane started”.
* Costs for youth residential treatment
rates also rose, from less than $40,000 per
year to over $120,000 per year, in the 12
months following the shooting. Length of
stay and acuity levels were dramatically
higher.
* Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for
Trauma in Schools assessments identified
23% of students in the Chardon High School
at the time immediately following the shooting as “at risk” of significant mental health
problems. Columbine High School assessments identified 15% at risk.
Dr. Joseph A. Dake, PhD, MPH, FASHA
Professor and Chair
Department of Health and Recreation Professions
University of Toledo
Mallory Ciarra Rinckey, B.S.,CHES
Masters of Public Health Research Assistant
University of Toledo
Emily Elizabeth Sterns, B.S., CHES
Masters of Public Health Research Assistant
University of Toledo
Dr. Jill E. Korbin
Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Director, Schubert Center for Child Studies
Case Western Reserve University
Dr. James Spilsbury, PhD, MPH
Director, Academic Development Core,
Center for Clinical Investigations
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Case Western Reserve University College of Medicine
VI. DEFINING THE FUTURE
II. DEFINING THE EVENT
The Chardon High School Shooting, What Happened:
Identifying Trauma Issues With Ongoing Consequences:
* Chardon High School, Chardon, Ohio suffered a mass school shooting on the morning of February 27, 2012. It was only the second mass high
school shooting since Columbine High School, 13 years before.
* At approximately 7:38 a.m. six students were shot in the cafeteria, as teenagers gathered in the cafeteria before classes. Three victims died of their
injuries, another remains permanently paralyzed.
* Increased costs for treatment, crisis intervention, increased behavioral health care staffing, increased security, and trauma informed care training were initially covered by state and federal public
and private grant funds.
* After four years, costs for programs like youth residential treatment care
have remained high, though funding has been cut dramatically.
* Chardon students represent approximately 50% of all residential
placements, but comprise only 23% of the total county student population.
* Behavioral health care professionals who were trained and certified in
trauma informed care are being recruited out of the area, leaving gaps in the
behavioral health system of care.
* One shooter, T.J. Lane, used handguns he obtained from a relative’s home.
* Some classes had already begun in the high school, so students experienced different levels of exposure to the trauma.
* The F.B.I,U.S. Secret Service, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Geauga County Sheriff’s Department, the Chardon Police Department, the Chardon Fire Department, and many surrounding community emergency services personnel participated in the initial response.
* Chardon High School was the only school to have “active shooter” training within the Board’s catchment area before February 27, 2012.
* Nine months later, Sandy Hook Elementary School was the scene of yet another mass school shooting.
III. IDENTIFYING THE TRAUMA RELATED ISSUES
The Research Questions:
* We have tried to identify community level issues that may have been made worse, or perhaps, even been improved by the
unexpected influence of a tragic school shooting.
* The question remains whether findings from this investigation may be appropriately applied to communities that experience other tragic events, such as “acts of God” like a tornado, flood, or hurricane. Similarities do exist between some of the
early findings of our investigation and those of communities like Joplin, Missouri which experienced a devastating EF5
multiple vortex tornado on May 22, 2011.
* Questions remain on the efficacy of some religious interventions at the time of the tragedy. While questions of faith were
the number one issue encountered by behavioral health clinicians, who provided trauma counseling at the scene of the
shooting, some clergy on the scene told survivors and family members that this was “pre-ordained” by God and their son (or
daughter, or friend, or relative, etc.) was predetermined to die or be injured. Other clergy addressed the trauma of their
parishioners in a very different way, focusing on the grief and loss of the moment.
* We seek to determine whether communities that experience school shootings have similar outcomes over time. Have some
school districts and surrounding communities experienced better outcomes due to different initial interventions?
IV. FINDINGS ON SHORT TERM ISSUES
The Broader Community Impact:
IV. FINDINGS ON SHORT TERM ISSUES
Columbine High School responded to the Chardon High School
shooting with notes of sympathy and compassion from students and staff.
The Broader Community Impact, Continued:
* Within an hour of the initial 9-1-1 calls, volunteers were arriving at the
scene of the shooting to provide clinical counseling services. Many were
unknown to the system of care, and had no clinical experience in trauma.
* The Geauga County Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services, as a governmental behavioral health authority and funder,
serves not only the Chardon School District, but also those seven
other school districts within the catchment area.
* Individuals with severe and persistent mental illness had high levels of
anxiety and depression. Even a year after the event, clients in the mental
health system with severe and persistent mental illness were still reporting
processing the influence of that tragedy as a part of their daily therapeutic
interventions.
* Within a week of the shooting tragedy, each of those eight school
districts experienced a traumatic response to the shooting. Whether it was a suicide, suicide threat, bomb or fire threat, or the threat
of another shooting, the trauma response was universal.
* Younger children were afraid to go back to school later that week. Some
high school students dropped out of school, started home schooling, or
entered a private high school.
* By focusing solely on the school district where a shooting occurred, many may miss the breadth of such a traumatic community
event, and therefore the scope of healing that needs to be addressed in the aftermath. Little study has been done in how the
community at large, and surrounding districts, are affected.
* Within the next two years the school district would lose approximately
35% of the teachers who were present at the time of the shooting.
* An increase in calls to the local mental health 24-hour hotline indicated
other community members were traumatized as well. Calls from veterans,
parents of students, siblings, and even individuals with no previous traumatic exposure appeared to increase dramatically.
* As a preliminary exploration of the aftermath of the Chardon
shooting, we examined readily available community-level data. For
example, there was an increase in new concealed carry licenses in
Geauga County compared to a similar Ohio county.
VII. IDENTIFYING NEW QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE
Research Issues For the Future:
* How does a local traumatic event, such as a school shooting affect community issues like housing and business/industry? Does
housing value diminish? Do local businesses prosper, flounder, or remain relatively static after a traumatic community event?
* What is the long term mental health stability of students, staff, and community members? What strategies may be
implemented in the future that could help ensure better outcomes?
*Does Trauma Informed Care, initiated at the time of a school shooting,
have a better long term outcome than other interventions?
Number of Concealed Carry Licenses Issued
* Can we make schools and students safer today and in the future by
studying past school shooting events?
* What role does social media play in exacerbating or reducing the negative effects of trauma on a population?
* What can history teach us that will help us reduce the violence that
our children face?
Chardon High School students walk together to a memorial
service, on the 1st anniversary or the Chardon High School shooting.
Mourners overflow into the yard and parking lot of St. Mary’s Catholic Church during
a Memorial Service for victims of the Chardon High School shooting.