February 15, 2008

On February 23, 1998, Daniel Gross marked the anniversary of his younger brother Matthew being critically wounded in a shooting rampage atop the Empire State Building by launching a nonprofit to protect other families and communities from gun violence.

Over the past decade, PAX/Real Solutions to Gun Violence has become one of the largest and most effective non-lobbying groups dedicated to the gun violence issue.

Based on the fact that in four out of five school shootings the attackers tell other students about their plans, PAX established 1-866-SPEAK-UP, the first-and-only anonymous national hotline for students to report weapon threats. In five years, the hotline has received more than 20,000 calls.

Daniel, a leading spokesperson on preventing school violence who is based in New York, noted about the recent school shootings, “Probably the most important thing to know about school shootings is that they can be prevented. A government study has found that in 81% of school shootings, the attackers tell other students about their plans. This means that it’s vitally important that students know the importance of speaking up about threats of violence as well as where they can go to report threats made at school or in their neighborhoods.”

School Shootings Within the Past Week:

February 7: A female teacher was shot and stabbed by her husband at a school in Ohio. The woman survived, and the gunman killed himself during a stand-off with police later.

Friday, Feb. 8: A woman at Louisiana Technical College killed two students and then herself.

Monday, Feb. 11: A 17-year-old sophomore at Mitchell High School in Memphis, TN shot and critically wounded a senior during a physical education class in the school cafeteria. The shooting is the second in a Memphis high school this month. On February 4, a 16-year-old student was shot in the leg in a classroom during an argument with a student.

Tuesday, Feb. 13: A 14-year-old junior high school student in Oxnard, CA shot and critically wounded a 15-year-old. The 15-year-old was declared brain dead on Wednesday, February 13, and the 14-year-old suspect now faces a first-degree murder charge.

Thursday, Feb. 14: An ex-graduate student opened fire on a geology class at Northern Illinois University, killing 6 people, including himself, and wounding 15.
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