It could have been a bad day for everybody here. All things considered, I think we were very blessed at the University of Central Florida.University of Central Florida campus Police Chief Richard Beary • Discussing the incident on his campus Monday, in which a student, James Oliver Seevakumara, committed suicide after pulling a gun on a roommate. Seevakumara, who had no criminal or mental health record, was found to have gathered a significant amount of ammunition and weaponry, including multiple improvised explosives. It was believed that he planned a mass shooting, but aborted the attack after he heard police coming. He was in the process of being evicted from the university, as he was no longer a student.
Atlanta Police said a 14-year-old student has been shot at Price Middle School, near the Lakewood Heights neighborhood south of downtown Atlanta on Thursday afternoon.
According to the Atlanta Fire Department, there was a 14-year-old shot in the head. Grady Memorial Hospital says they have received one under-aged gunshot victim.
A second person was reported to have received cuts and bruises, but it is not known if that person was shot.
This is a developing story, and we’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available. For the time being, parents are being asked not to come to the school to avoid creating additional confusion.
Update: The alleged gunmen has been apprehended by Atlanta PD, and is believed to be a student; however, a name has not been released at this time.
We’re fighting terrorism, which comes under very specific geopolitical and military circumstances. This is not something that compares with the situation in the U.S.Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor • Disputing claims, made by the National Rifle Association last week, that they were an example for the U.S. to follow in adding police officers to schools. But they dispute this, first off, because those officers are dealing with terrorism, not school shootings. Secondly, the rate of school shootings and civilian gun ownership is actually very low in Israel. Third, the officers were added in a period where there were no recent attacks at schools. And finally, there have only been two school shootings in Israel in the past four decades. As it is, the guards Israel does have are lightly armed and have a support system in case something does happen.
“The fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing:” This morning, President Obama announced the formation of what’s essentially a gun control task force—a policy team tasked with crafting concrete proposals to reduce gun violence. The group will be headed by Vice President Biden, and its proposals will be due on the President’s desk “no later than January.” Obama emphatically rejected the notion that the team is a “commission;” he insisted that it will not “be studying the issue for six months and publishing a report that gets read and then pushed aside.” He also pledged to speak of the proposals, whatever they may be, in his State of the Union address next year.
The media organization will:
• Refuse to promote the identity of an alleged assailant by withholding their name and likeness from all forms of public communication.
• Acknowledge that the prospect of infamy could serve as a partial motivating factor for disturbed individuals to cause the death of innocent victims.
• Concur that individual names and likenesses are irrelevant to media coverage of such acts, where an emphasis should be placed on specific details of the act, alleged assailant’s background, and possible motivations.
• Raise public awareness of the root cause for such acts, as to increase the likelihood of their future prevention.
• Agree that in cases where an alleged assailant is still at large, their name and likeness should be published to aid in the capture and incarceration of this individual. Once incarcerated, the assailant’s name and likeness will be withheld from future communications.
• Recognize that The Alex Teves Challenge is an initial step in the process of eliminating random acts of mass violence. As such, we agree to promote data and analysis from experts in mental health, public safety, and other relevant professions, where this will support further steps in the elimination of this type of criminal behavior.
In a statement on the site, Teves’ father, Tom, makes this point: “If we all don’t stand together to save our children and our friends then we are, by doing nothing, culpable to a certain extent.” Is there room for media organizations to take such a situation seriously? And how does that play into the current situation?
Personal take: I like the heart behind this idea (especially considering the video Anthony posted is so accurate), but I will be the first to admit that there are many challenges to enacting it — one, that media organizations who run this kind of info have a natural encouragement to do so, and two, that social media makes it easier than ever for this sort of info to spread. But is there something to be said for points like this? — Ernie @ SFB
(ht @stastnyisnasty)
As a country, we have been through this too many times…we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.President Obama, in a statement on the Sandy Hook shooting. While we don’t mean to be crass at a moment like this, the phrasing of this could suggest an increased focus on gun control within the administration, which would be a major development.
(Source: youtube.com)
One was his mother, who was a teacher at the school. The other was his brother, who was found dead in his home today in Hoboken, NJ.
UPDATE: The shooter’s brother is alive.
SERIOUSLY PEOPLE, JUST STOP
Yes, this. Remember, “Ryan Lanza” is probably a rather common name.
I can’t add much to what’s already been (and will be) ...
One of the perks of being an early employee...
Over the last 90 days, the Digg...
#FMMDI (at 30 Rockefeller Plaza)
Thanks. I guess my thoughts are as follows:
1. I think...
Two Months Ago I set out to interview the principal cast...
UPDATE: Bob Orr reports, based on preliminary info, that guns appear to have been purchased legally and belong to Ryan Lanza
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 14, 2012
President Obama is set to speak on the incident within the hour.
BREAKING NEWS: A school shooting has been reported at an elementary school in Newtown, CT. More details from the Newtown Bee:
State and Newtown police, ambulance, and emergency response personnel responded to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shortly after 9:30 am, Friday, following reports of a shooting. One child was carried from the school by a police officer, apparently seriously wounded.
The other children in the school are exiting the school under state police protection.
All of Newtown’s schools are in lockdown, and the private schools have in town have been notified of an alleged shooting being reported at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson said the schools were placed on lockdown the morning of Friday, December 14, “until we hear what is going on there.”
Dr Robinson said it is best if parents do not try to call the district at this time, and the school district will release a message once further information is known.
The situation is evolving.
(Above: Google Maps image of Sandy Hook Elementary School, via @CT1Rick; ht @TheMatthewKeys)
UPDATE: Newtown Patch reports that there may be two shooters in the school.
![The gunman in the Ohio school shooting, T.J. Lane, showed up in court Wednesday, two days after the incident, which killed three and injured two. The prosecutor, David Joyce, emphasized in his statement that the shooting was the work of a disturbed person. “This is not about bullying. This is not about drugs. This is someone who is not well,” Joyce said. “[Lane] confessed to taking the pistol and admitted he went into the cafeteria and shot 10 rounds. [He said he] did not know the students, but chose them randomly.” (photo by Mark Duncan/AP; edit to correct quote)](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m05vnsE2sb1qas8z9o1_500.jpg)
The gunman in the Ohio school shooting, T.J. Lane, showed up in court Wednesday, two days after the incident, which killed three and injured two. The prosecutor, David Joyce, emphasized in his statement that the shooting was the work of a disturbed person. “This is not about bullying. This is not about drugs. This is someone who is not well,” Joyce said. “[Lane] confessed to taking the pistol and admitted he went into the cafeteria and shot 10 rounds. [He said he] did not know the students, but chose them randomly.” (photo by Mark Duncan/AP; edit to correct quote)
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