Leakage of Violent Intent by St Louis High School Mass Shooter

We have repeatedly discussed the fact that a key element in violence prevention is recognizing leakage of violent intent and taking action to ensure it is reported to upper management in the workplace, the school's administration, and the authorities. Our research has shown that this pre-event leakage of violent intent will frequently be shared openly on social media and elsewhere on the internet.

It has now been learned the 19-year-old former student armed with an AR-15 rifle and nearly a dozen magazines entered the St. Louis high school he graduated from in 2021, shot a 15-year-old female student and a teacher dead, wounded seven others, and terrorized hundreds of people, posted on social media menacing photos of himself posing with a firearm pointed toward the camera. Elsewhere, he addressed his contempt for his school promising "I can't let this s**t go." (See below).

During their investigation of the shooter who died at the scene, law enforcement found a note in the perpetrator's car complaining of his loneliness and some other things he complained about in a September 20, 2020 social media post, published during the time he was still a student at the school he shot up on Tuesday.

Prevention is the only solution to the continuing epidemic, and acting on leakage of violent intent is an important step in achieving this goal.