Yes, we can and do prevent mass shootings, but need to do a better job at this.
Psychological science related to behavioral threat assessment has made tremendous progress, yet it's clear our law enforcement and mental health professionals are still making serious mistakes.
Why does this continue? It's tough to understand, but it seems like people are content to say things like "there's no way to identify or prevent mass shootings."
Fortunately, there are ways to put together facts about people who pose the risk of harm and prevent violence. It's happening all the time.
Unfortunately, the "system" failed the victims in Buffalo and their families in their response to the teen shooter.
I'm sure there are others who are upset to find out the shooter in Buffalo threatened a shooting at his school just last year?
He was hospitalized for a day and a half and never contacted again by the local police. I'm sure we will find out more information, but we already have enough to know this was a potentially dangerous person who later followed through with his prior lethal threat.
Responsible people can ask why there was no police follow-up with this teenager. How the mental health system managed the prior threat is unclear at this time, but professionals in the behavioral threat assessment field would say there should have been more extensive follow-up of this young person and his family.
The Buffalo police department has over 700 police officers with a budget over $140 million. It's unclear yet if Buffalo has any psychologists/social workers or mental health specialists. But I think most reasonable people would say, "gee, it's probably a good idea to have someone with advanced psychological training go and talk with a teen who threatened to shoot people at his high school on a regular basis."
In the mental health field, it's called "case management."
People with deranged thinking reveal themselves during interviews.
This shooter had already threatened a mass shooting, been hospitalized for it, but no one at the Buffalo police department with 700 officers and a budget of over $140 million dollars thought it was a good idea to see how this impaired teenager was doing.
This shooting was not only heartbreaking, it was preventable.
