All posts tagged: shootings

I Survived Two School Shootings

I Survived Two School Shootings

Published by Daniella Wilson

If you’re reading this, there’s a chance that you have survived, witnessed, or somehow experienced a school shooting, which is a common enough occurrence in the United States that I felt compelled to write this essay. I myself have been through two school shootings: first in Parkland, Florida, when I was 12, and then at Brown University at the age of 20. As my university came together to cope with the tragedy we experienced on December 13, 2025, I noticed that sharing my prior experiences helped my peers feel understood and also made me feel better in the process. Since I was 13 years old, I’ve dedicated myself to fighting for the prevention of gun violence. Now I hope that by sharing what I have learned over the past eight years and two school shootings, perhaps even one person will feel less alone. If you are in the unfortunate position of being able to relate to what I went through, I hope these five pieces of advice bring you comfort. 1. Surviving Looks Different for …

After years fostering interfaith ties, San Diego mosque finds allies in grief

After years fostering interfaith ties, San Diego mosque finds allies in grief

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — For years before Monday’s deadly shooting, the Islamic Center of San Diego stood out as a place that welcomed anyone through its doors — Muslim or not. The mosque’s imam, Taha Hassane, spent decades cultivating relationships with clergy, neighbors and community activists from across the city.  Hassane told RNS in an interview he believes in showing up for others and “trying to make our society the best in terms of acceptance, tolerance.”  In the hours after the shooting that killed three members of the mosque, interfaith leaders and allies started crowding vigils to stand in solidarity with Hassane and his community. Their response to the tragedy, Muslim community members said, offered a strong rebuke to the anti-Muslim rhetoric that has escalated in recent months and has shadowed the mosque for decades.  The shooting, which is being investigated as a hate crime, shattered what had long felt like a safe haven for worshippers and neighbors alike. But mosque leaders insist it will remain a place for everyone. At the first press conference hours after …

An ICE Firearms Trainer Was Involved in At Least 4 Deadly Shootings

An ICE Firearms Trainer Was Involved in At Least 4 Deadly Shootings

Published by skeptic

The owner of a company that trained paramilitary Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents testified that he was involved in at least four lethal shootings, according to a 2021 deposition related to a lawsuit reviewed by WIRED. David S. Norman, the founder and proprietor of law enforcement training firm TruKinetics LLC, served as a Phoenix Police officer from the late 1990s until his retirement in 2020. Prior to founding TruKinetics the same year, according to records reviewed by WIRED, Norman was involved in six shootings while on duty that left four people dead and two more wounded. In every instance, the Phoenix Police Department said Norman fired on an armed suspect and exchanged volleys of gunfire in at least two of the shootings. Based in Gilbert, Arizona, TruKinetics offers training on small-team tactics, hostage rescues, close-quarters combat, building searches, night-vision firearms proficiency, pistol and rifle courses, “vehicle interdiction,” breaching with explosives, and sniper tactics, according to the company’s website. TruKinetics received $27,748 for a year-long contract to run a mandatory 40-hour training course that certain members …

DOJ seeking death penalty for suspect in fatal shootings of 2 Israeli Embassy staffers

DOJ seeking death penalty for suspect in fatal shootings of 2 Israeli Embassy staffers

Published by Sam Flores

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against the man accused of shooting and killing two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, the Department of Justice informed a federal judge Friday.  Justice Department leaders had long signaled they were considering it. The new filing marks the formal notification from U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro’s office. … Source link

Even After Two Massacres, OpenAI Still Hasn’t Stopped ChatGPT From Helping Plan School Shootings

Even After Two Massacres, OpenAI Still Hasn’t Stopped ChatGPT From Helping Plan School Shootings

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Content warning: this story includes discussion of self-harm and suicide. If you are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been implicated in not just one but two mass shootings over the past year or so. Both perpetrators extensively used the chatbots to extensively plan their crimes, reigniting a heated debate over the AI responsibility for flagging abuse of its tech. It’s a particularly pertinent topic as the chatbots continue to draw users in with a warm and highly sycophantic tone — while, in extreme cases, sending them into sometimes-fatal spirals of their own delusions. In the case of Phoenix Ikner, who’s accused of killing two people at Florida State University just over a year ago, the 20-year-old peppered ChatGPT with questions about how the country would “react” to a shooting, how to turn off the …

Children’s Books About School Shootings and Lockdowns

Children’s Books About School Shootings and Lockdowns

Published by José Betancourt

One Thursday Afternoon by Barbara Dilorenzo When Ava leaves school one Thursday afternoon, she has a lot of big feelings. That day, her school had held a lockdown drill. Ava feels terrified. But as her grandfather arrives to pick her up, she’s quiet. She doesn’t know what to say or how to name her feelings. One Thursday Afternoon follows Ava as her grandfather makes space and supports her during her silence. They go outside, paint, and enjoy nature. And when Ava is finally ready to talk, her grandfather listens. This book helps kids understand that their fear is normal. They don’t have to talk about it right away, but when they are ready to share, the adults in their life will be ready to listen. Source link

Why Do ChatGPT Users Keep Committing Mass Shootings?

Why Do ChatGPT Users Keep Committing Mass Shootings?

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Content warning: this story includes discussion of self-harm and suicide. If you are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. On February 10, an 18-year-old named Jesse Van Rootselaar killed two family members at her home, as well as five children and a teacher at a school in British Columbia, and eventually herself. It quickly emerged that OpenAI had flagged Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT account for disturbing conversations, but never notified law enforcement. A second account tied to the shooter was also been banned for interactions about gun violence. The incident reignited a heated debate over the troubling relationship between the use of AI chatbots and deteriorating mental health, as well as the potential risk of violence. Just eight months earlier, an individual fatally shot two people at Florida State University and injured seven others. The prime suspect, 20-year-old student …

Parkland Shooting’s Jackie Corin on Zendaya-Pattinson Movie

Parkland Shooting’s Jackie Corin on Zendaya-Pattinson Movie

Published by Daniella Wilson

A24‘s dark comedy feature The Drama, starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, has already become the focus of debate, despite the studio’s efforts to conceal the film’s true subject matter from its marketing. As revealed in media reports about the project that hits theaters Friday, writer-director Kristoffer Borgli‘s movie (spoilers ahead) centers on Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Pattinson), whose impending nuptials are thrown into jeopardy after the bride-to-be reveals that she planned a school shooting as a teen — and even took her dad’s weapon to school — but ultimately did not go through with it. During a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Jackie Corin — co-founder of March for Our Lives and a survivor of the 2018 Parkland shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that took 17 lives — calls the film “an inevitable evolution in storytelling,” given how frequently school attacks are part of the cultural narrative. “Gun violence, particularly in schools, is not just another dramatic device,” says Corin, who had yet to see the film. “Art has the capacity to deepen …