Police tape blocks the street near the scene of a shooting in Sacramento, Calif., Feb. 28, 2022. [Photo/VCG]

Mass shootings have become an all-too-frequent news event in the United States, with many occurring at elementary and high schools. According to CNN, in the first nine months of this year, there were already 58 school shootings in the U.S. If the trend continues, that would make 2023 the second-deadliest year for school shootings since 2008. The deadliest? Last year.

There would be even more shootings if not for the work of local police and federal investigators who thwart some attacks before they happen. It is difficult work trying to catch a terrorist before they strike. Many shooters act alone, and it's not possible to read someone's mind to discover they harbor evil intent. Often, the information comes from text messages and reports from classmates.

That was the case at Creekside High School, a secondary school south of Jacksonville, Florida. Three students aged 14 and 15 were recently caught making threats against classmates they planned to injure and kill. They posted the "hit lists" in a group chat for students who vented grievances about being bullied. Their messages were turned over to the police by a fellow member of the group and the trio was arrested and charged.

This incident has all the hallmarks of a school shooting in the Columbine mold. Only in the case of Columbine, the police did not take the threats seriously. 

On April 20, 1999, two students from Columbine High School in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado, entered their high school with a stockpile of weapons and shot 13 students and teachers to death. They had also complained about being bullied, and associated with a group of fellow outcasts. 

Back then, text messages and social media chat were not prevalent, but the attackers posted their thoughts on basic web pages. The internet was in its infancy. It was the age of blogs. One of the perpetrators, Eric Harris, hosted a blog where he wrote in 1997, "All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you as I can, especially a few people. Like Brooks Brown."

The killer posted that threat two years before he carried out his attack. Brown's parents reported the threat to the police. Brooks Brown survived the Columbine shooting and would later write a book about it.

The police never issued a search warrant or launched any kind of serious investigation. It sounds weird today, but the authorities in America didn't take the threat of school shootings seriously before Columbine. There had been shootings in schools before, but they were relatively uncommon, and were treated as isolated incidents. 

After Columbine, police and superintendents might have overreacted at first. They put metal detectors in schools. They started to implement school uniform mandates on the false premise that psychopathic students wouldn't engage in violence if they were wearing a uniform. Congress investigated and tried to ban heavy metal and rap music because they thought it was somehow causing kids to be violent. 

Teachers might have also been too harsh on loners and victims of bullying. They viewed anyone who dressed differently or listened to the wrong kind of music as a potential threat, even without any proof of wrongdoing or planning.

In the Creekside High School case, there seems to be black-and-white evidence of students making and communicating death threats. One of them wrote in the group chat, "I'm bringing my AK-47 tomorrow." They reportedly shared photos and addresses of the victims they intended to kill.

It's always possible they were bluffing. But the act of making a threat is itself a crime. Part of the crime is that it puts fear in the targets. The three students are being charged with felony-level crimes, including making threats to kill or do bodily harm and unlawful use of a two-way communications device.

Before Columbine, Americans were too lackadaisical about school shootings. After, they became too aggressive and made unnecessary overreactions that hurt innocent people. Hopefully, now we have struck something closer to the right balance.

Mitchell Blatt is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.ccgp-fushun.com/opinion/MitchellBlatt.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.