School Attack In Nigeria: 29 Boarding School Students Shot & Burned Alive

Points for Consideration Up Front: I am exposing the reader to this horrific story of an international school attack by terrorists because as educators it is important to be globally aware. What is the likelihood of terrorists attacking your school? Not probable, and certainly the threat is extremely low, but possible.  

POTISKUM, Nigeria – On July 6, 2013, Islamic militants (allegedly from the Boko Haram sect) attacked a boarding school (1,200 students) in Northeast Nigeria before dawn Saturday, killing 29 students and one teacher. The gunmen are believed to be from the Boko Haram sect whose name means "Western education is sacrilege."  Scores of schools have been burned down in the past year in Northeast Nigeria.  Some of the pupils were burned alive in the latest school attack blamed on a radical terror group, survivors said. Parents screamed in anguish as they tried to identify the charred and gunshot victims.

By Adamu Adamu and Michelle Faul, The Associated Press

     Farmer Malam Abdullahi found the bodies of two of his sons, a 10-year-old shot in the back as he apparently tried to run away, and a 12-year-old shot in the chest. "That's it, I'm taking my other boys out of school," he told The Associated Press as he wept over the two corpses. He said he had three younger children in a nearby school. "It's not safe," he said. "The gunmen are attacking schools and there is no protection for students despite all the soldiers." Survivors at the Potiskum General Hospital and its mortuary said gunmen attacked Government Secondary School in Mamudo village, 3 miles from Potiskum town at about 3 a.m. Saturday.

     They killed 29 students and an English teacher Mohammed Musa, who was shot in the chest, according to another teacher, Ibrahim Abdu. "We were sleeping when we heard gunshots. When I woke up, someone was pointing a gun at me," said 15-year-old Musa Hassan. He put his arm up in defense, and suffered a gunshot that blew off all four fingers on his right hand, the one he uses to write with. He said the gunmen came armed with jerry cans of fuel that they used to torch the school's administrative block and one of the hostels. "They burned the children alive," he said, the horror showing in his wide eyes.

     He and teachers at the morgue said dozens of children from the 1,200-student school escaped into the bush but have not been seen since. Some bodies are so charred they could not be identified, so many parents do not know if their children survived or died. Islamic militants from Boko Haram and breakaway groups have killed more than 1,600 civilians in suicide bombings and other attacks since 2010, according to an Associated Press count. President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency May 14, and deployed thousands of troops to halt the insurgency, acknowledging that militants had taken control of some towns and villages.

     Military attacks against the Muslim extremists appear to have driven the extremists into the mountains with caves, from which they emerge to attack schools and markets. The militants have increasingly targeted civilians, including health workers on vaccination campaigns, teachers and government workers. 
© 2013 The Associated Press.  

Final Comment: The techniques, tactics, and procedures of Islamic Extremists (VEO: Violent Extremist Organizations) terrorists used abroad can and have been visited upon our shores. 

Anniversary of July 22, 2011 Norwegian Massacre

Young Survivors of 2011 Norwegian Shooting Massacre
(Click on the Above Link) to see some of the survivors...

On July 22, 2011, a car bomb killed eight people at the executive government building in Oslo, Norway. Shortly thereafter, Anders Behring Breivik, responsible for the bombing in Oslo, opened fire at a summer youth camp for members of the Labor Party on the isolated island of Utøya, Norway killing 69 (mostly young) people and wounding (209) many more; 500 people survived.

15 Year Old Norwegian Survivor

Comment: This was a psychopathic act of violence from a madman who was captured and is in jail. The survivors of these violence acts against these youth will result in recovery for many years, and more than likely the rest of their lives. Not to mention, the impact these incidents have had on their families, friends, and loved ones will need to recover as well. 

Our focus always has to be on PREVENTION of these tragedies, if you SEE SOMETHING, HEAR SOMETHING, YOU NEED TO SAY SOMETHING. If only someone in Anders Behring Breivik's life was concerned about his extremist beliefs and purchases of weapons & bomb making materials; or if someone had stumbled upon his violent cyber postings this perhaps could have been prevented...? 

From a Response standpoint, in the most extreme cases of rampage shootings knowing how to RUN, HIDE, and as a last resort FIGHT (Protect Yourself and Others). Unfortunately in today's world this is a LIFE SKILL that can make us all more resilient.

It is about PREPARATION, not PARANOIA....

Modern Day Life Skill: Surviving an Active Shooter

School Shootings...Workplace Shootings....Shootings in Public Places (Movie Theater, Mall) are all examples of the potential of violence occurring wherever you may be. While it is not probable, it is none-the-less possible - so you must be prepared. Teaching students and young adults the LIFE SKILL of how to mitigate the dangers of an active shooter situation is prudent. The past belief and practice of merely calling the police and hiding from a gunmen (lock-down mode) until police arrive is no longer the only consideration you make when developing a plan of action on how to react. Watch the video as it suggests to RUN from the danger if possible, HIDE if you have no option to run (with some self protective considerations), and if there is no escape and you perceive you are about to encounter an active shooter, than FIGHT to increase your chances of survival. Individually or in a group that swarms an attacker using improvised weapon (books, chairs, fire extinguishers, hot water or coffee, etc.) increases your chances vise remaining a passive target.


This video (RUN. HIDE. FIGHT. Surviving An Active Shooter) is a DHS sponsored product created by the City of Houston which demonstrated the evolution of citizen preparedness to a violent encounter created by an active shooter situation.

Be Prepared and Make Your Luck by training and conducting capabilities through drills. 

Sophisticated & Protracted Threat Against Ohio High School

A VARIETY OF SOPHISTICATED THREATS (IEDs, BIO-CHEM) SENT VIA MULTIPLE

EMAILS WITH THE FBI NOT IMMEDIATELY ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE SOURCE...? 

For a two week period, Orange High School has received a number of cyber threats sent via email (first threat email on Nov 6) and to local television stations. Initially the school was shutdown for a few days and then re-opened and the threats continued. These protracted threats are serious and involve a variety of bomb threats including cell phone bombs, backpack bombs, and car bombs. The situation was further complicated by information put out on social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) were it can be difficult to distinguish between gossip, information, and fact. The school and local police have contacted the FBI who have collectively opened a joint (state & federal) investigation. These email originated threats at present have been unable to be exploited by the FBI due to the high tech software used by the unidentified perpetrators. The full resources of the FBI to include their Behavioral Science Unit are involved. The Orange School District and Pepper Pike Police Dept. held a joint presentation with the FBI at a school board meeting with numerous parents in attendance. The school & Pepper Pike PD formulated a security strategy to address the serious threats involving limitations on student cell phones, student backpacks, bio-chemical agents, and single door entrance with accompanying searches. There was an increased police presence at the school and bomb searches by bomb detection dogs. There was also restrictions on students not being able to leave class without an adult escort. The duration and active measures fluctuated based on the changing threats over the course of the two weeks.

FBI Briefing at the Orange District School Board:

http://www.schooltube.com/video/00d19a8b167c4869be06/11_21_11_FBI%20Briefing

The School posted a special page on their website as an information forum for students and parents. The credibility of the threat appears to be diminishing, but due to the seriousness of the threats the authorities are taking no chances. Since the emails are considered evidence in the federal investigation, the contents cannot be directly released to the parents.  

While we hope this is a hoax or veiled threat resulting in a future arrest, this ongoing incident shows how unprepared our educational institutions are with no federal strategy towards school preparedness. Imagine if any one of these threats actually occurred, how would we be looking at this differently?

Westhill HS Students Arrested After Setting Off Homemade Explosives (June 2011)

Response to Student Homemade ChemBombs in Maryland 2008

STUDENTS WILL ON OCCASION WILL BRING

HOMEMADE EXPLOSIVE DEVICES TO SCHOOL

On July 2011, in Stamford, Connecticut, two city high school students face felony charges after setting off two small homemade bombs containing household chemicals on a friday morning at Westhill High School. A Westhill employee told police he would seek medical attention after inhaling fumes from one of the exploded devices, which were set off in trash bins. No other injuries were reported.

 

The bombs, contained in plastic bottles, produced loud explosions around 9:45 a.m. in two cafeterias at the Roxbury Road high school, said Stamford Police Sgt. Joseph Kennedy. The noise from the device caused "sheer panic" in the cafeteria, where a school resource police officer was posted.

 

The devices did not cause a fire, but one trash bin began smoking in the Raynor cafeteria, Kennedy said. An unidentified teacher or administrator went to the trash bin and inhaled chemical fumes and planned to seek medical attention. The exact contents of the homemade chemical bombs were unknown, but Kennedy said the two students filled plastic bottles with household cleaning solutions and mixed them with aluminum foil to cause a chemical reaction. The chemical reaction generate enough overpressure to cause the plastic containers to explode and release chemical liquid and vapors nearby.

 

Police officers and school administrators used surveillance video footage to identify the two 16-year-olds who set off the devices. They were arrested about 45 minutes after the explosions, Kennedy said. The students were charged with felony counts of second-degree assault, risk of injury to a minor, first-degree reckless endangerment and manufacturing bombs. They are being held at the juvenile detention facility at Bridgeport. Their names are being withheld because they are juveniles.

 

Kennedy said it is unclear whether the 16-year-olds were involved in a Wednesday incident at Westhill in which students threw water balloons filled with bleach at each other. School officials wouldn't disclose how the students will be disciplined. "Unfortunately, student privacy laws don't allow me to share the specific details of the disciplinary actions that will be taken," said Sarah Arnold, a spokeswoman for the district. "But the administration is going to pursue the maximum penalties."

 

According to the district's student behavior policy, students in possession of "explosive materials in school, or ignition of any flammable material in school" can be considered for removal from class, in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension and expulsion. Shannon O'Connor, a 16-year-old junior at Westhill, said she was sitting in the cafeteria several feet from the trash bin when one of the teens threw the small homemade device into it. The loud explosion startled everyone in the cafeteria, but the panic quickly subsided. "Everyone just screamed and jumped," she said Friday afternoon. "It scared me and I wasn't even near it."

Points for Consideration:

• It is a fact of life that teenagers left unsupervised and armed with a little information will try or experiment with chemicals and incendiary devices creating dangerous situations. The phrase "...it is all fun and games until someone loses an eye!" becomes deadly serious when kids can be injured. Many things that start out as a prank or something that seems cool turn out deadly and legally serious for the adolescent participants.
• Taken to a nefarious extreme, the Columbine incident was planned as a large two phased bombing attack to be followed by a shooting spree to kill the remaining survivors. Bombs (in duffel bags) were placed in the cafeteria during the busiest lunch period, but failed to detonate.
• Google search how to make a homemade device and you will be taken to YouTube where you can watch short films that will show you how. What is more disconcerting is to watch those short films made by kids who are demonstrating how to do this or that and even the film footage is an accident waiting to happen. Young kids playing with mixing interactive chemicals without any idea of the danger at close range.
• Parents / Guardians, Teachers, and students need to be tuned to that special frequency that if they "see something or hear something, they need to say something" to an authority figure so immediate action can be taken.
• The proper placement of cameras can be invaluable in finding out who was involved in an incident and what actually occurred.
• The reaction of students, school workers, and faculty to an explosion is often overlooked to include the unintended response (heart attack, anxiety attack, asthma attack, etc.) can turn a prank into a more serious affair (serious injury or death).

CHEMISTRY OUTSIDE  OF CHEMISTRY CLASS IS DANGEROUS

for STUDENTS



 

Mexican Cartels Recruiting American High School Students Part I

“Mexican Cartels have corrupted nearly an entire generation of youth living in Northern Mexico and they seek to corrupt our youth as well to further their smuggling operations,” said Steven C. McCraw, DPS Director. “The Mexican Cartels value American (Texas) teenagers for their ability to serve as expendable labor in many different roles and they have unlimited resources to recruit our children.”

Here is a warning for parents about a disturbing new trend. Mexican Drug cartels are seeking younger and younger recruits, and they're finding them in American schools, at present in Texas. Six of the seven Mexican cartels have established command and control networks in Texas. The link between Mexican Drug Cartels and gangs which help promote and sell drugs is apparent. There are thousands of potential candidates for cartel recruitment in Houston area schools. They include kids who are U.S. citizens, speak Spanish and can blend in on both sides of the border. The DPS says parents should pay attention to who their kids are hanging out with since recruiters may not be who you might think. "The people recruiting them may not be much older, maybe a 16 or 17-year-old, but they're tracking them down, talking to them, telling them how glamorous it is to deal and traffic drugs," said Commander Steen.

A couple of incidents within the last 30 days prompted the warning, but the increased threat began a few years ago. Here are some examples:

• Elisabeth Mandala (an American 18 yr old) left Kempner High School in Sugar Land for Mexico. She wound up beaten to death in a pick up truck along with two men carrying fake identification. It's believed the violent drug cartels recruited Mandala to smuggle undocumented immigrants across the border.
• Just last week in a border county officers caught a 12-year-old American boy driving a stolen pick up truck with more than 800 pounds of marijuana.
• Last month two Texas teens were lured to Mexico where they were kidnapped, beaten, ransomed and released in a remote area along the Rio Grande River.
• Within the past year, more than 25 juveniles have been arrested for drug trafficking in one Texas border county alone.

"The cartel influence is here," said Duane Steen, regional commander for the Texas Department of Public Safety. The DPS is warning parents across the state that children are at risk of being seduced by the cartels that seem to be stepping up their game. "Sometimes this may be delivering drugs. It may be crossing drugs over from Mexico or involvement in some of the other violent activities," said Steen.

"Recruiting is easy for such a vulnerable population," said Kim Ogg, the former gang task force director for the city of Houston. Ogg suspects the cartels are recruiting through gangs. "Some see it (the gang) as their family. Some are attracted to the money, drugs, guns, women, and others are attracted because they have family members in gangs and it seems normal," said Ogg. What the cartels won't tell recruits is how it all could end with jail, injury or death.

As the Hispanic and Latino demographic in America and our schools increase, we must remain vigilant against the impact of Mexican and Latin American cartels and groups, drugs and gangs in our communities, schools, and population. All Drug Cartels from Mexico or anywhere else are a national security problem and threaten the safety and security of our schools as well. We must protect our children.


SIMILAR TO MUSLIM EXTREMIST GROUPS THE LEVEL OF INDISCRIMINATE AND TARGETED VIOLENCE (Beheading, Public Burnings, Body Parts Publicly Displayed, Families Slaughtered, etc.) FROM DRUG CARTELS IS DIFFICULT FOR THE AVERAGE AMERICAN CITIZEN TO COMPREHEND.



Maryland Teen Arrested for Terrorist Collaboration and School Shooting Discussion

A POTENTIAL THREAT TO A SCHOOL WITH AQ INSPIRED JIHADIST INTENT

http://articles.philly.com/2011-08-28/news/29938534_1_jihad-jane-mohammed-terror-cases

Mohammed K. (a 17 yr old Pakistani born American high school senior in Ellicott City, Maryland) was secretly arrested by the FBI recently. Mohammed excelled in school, winning scholarships based on his creative-writing skills, and was accepted to Johns Hopkins University. The under-aged Mohammed K was arrested for allegedly conspiring (since the age of 15) with the 48 yr old woman (Colleen LaRose) from the Philadelphia suburbs known as Jihad Jane. (Jihad Jane is charged with conspiracy to support terrorists and to plan to kill a foreign citizen.) The LaRose indictment does not cite Mohammed by name, but uses a code name to allege that he helped her raise money and recruit others for a jihad. According to another court document, LaRose sent Mohammed her boyfriend's U.S. passport, which she had stolen for the jihad plot. Mohammed hid it at school. Mohammed K also spoke in a jihadist chat room of a Columbine-style plot with a Pittsburgh-area friend (Emerson Begolly) a former Neo-Nazi turned Jihadist Pennsylvania college student. 



"I had a lot of thoughts about you today," the teen, Mohammed K., wrote to his Western Pennsylvania pen pal (Emerson Begolly) late last year. "About us both doing martyrdom operations together in my school. . . . It was like we both were in a big truck and had guns and we were shooting randomly at a huge crowd of kids." The chats provide new insight into a boy who at age 15 allegedly began helping Colleen LaRose, the 48-year-old "Jihad Jane" from Pennsburg, who U.S. officials say represents a disturbing new face of homegrown terrorism.

Mohammed's chat room friend was Emerson Begolly, a Pennsylvania State University student who was soon charged with soliciting unrelated terror attacks. Transcripts of the chats were publicly filed in that case. During the Nov. 22 chat, Mohammed told Begolly he lived near National Security Agency headquarters in Fort Meade, Md. "The place where I live is a HOTBED of NSA and all the security agencies of Amrika [sic]," Mohammed wrote. "And the kids who study in my school proudly state that their parents work in NSA and FBI, and even carry key chains - piss me off." "Like Columbine?" Begolly asked. "Na'am, lol" Mohammed wrote, using the Arabic word for "yes" and Internet slang for "laughing out loud." Online, Begolly and Mohammed also discussed taking hostages and how to use weapons and bulletproof vests. They also wrote dark poetry. At one point, Mohammed cited advice from the Al-Qaeda magazine Inspire. "We should strike the snake at its head." At another, he hesitated when asked whether he was prepared to strike immediately. "I wouldn't get too excited. I think practice comes first."

Points for Consideration:

• This is another successful example of the US interagency Counterterrorism Network (US intelligence / Law enforcement / Military) at work and keeping us safe and secure.
• This is the classic mix of global Islamic extremists leveraging Web 2.0 technology (jihadist chat rooms, Al Qaeda Inspire magazine, etc.) to virtually "chum" for wanna-be / not-so-bright terrorists and radicalize smart but impressionable young people to do their nefarious bidding.
• Terrorist operations evolve from Planning to Preparation, and then to Execution. Whether they are successful or not, it generates media attention which generates fear (the enduring goal of terrorism) which helps the cause.
• Those arrested, killed, or blown up are celebrated as being holy warriors (jihadists) and they become Muslim extremist role models for future extremists.
• John Gidurik (author of Terror at Beslan) warned that terrorist attacks at American schools are a matter of WHEN, not IF.  While these two chat room jihadists were not a band of Chechen (Muslim) Terrorists like in Beslan, Russia; had they went on a rampage in a US school with a few others... it would undoubtedly be repeated.
• Many of the ingredients were there as they were in the Planning stages (course of action development) and they knew they needed to "practice" (Preparation phase). 
• While it appears Al Qaeda's ability to plan big strategic level attacks have been frustrated by the US interagency, their mission-type orders (go forth & kill western infidels) to Muslim extremists and low cost Web 2.0 resourcing (Internet, AQ Inspire magazine has a lot of "how-to" information) gives them a great return on their investment (ROI).
• Had a AQ mid-level manager monitoring a jihadist chat rooms found out that a smart impressionable jihadist American student was considering shooting up his school which was full of students whose parents worked at the National Security Agency (NSA: Signal Intelligence folks), how hard would it have been to exploit or resource a terrorist attack against that American school...connect those dots...very possible. 

Islamic Radicalization of select / disenfranchised members of our citizenry could turn into a strategic critical vulnerability if we are not aware of the foreign and domestic threat to do so and we do not prepare. 

SEE SOMETHING / HEAR SOMETHING - SAY SOMETHING



Louisiana High School Shooting Plot Foiled by Concerned Students

SEE (OR HEAR) SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING SAVES LIVES

Aug 6, 2011: Fellow students heard about a plan by some students to attack their high school on the first day of school. School and Law Enforcement authorities collaborated to ensure a school attack planned by three students for the first day of school was foiled. The suburban school to be attacked was Lakeshore High School in Covington, Louisiana. Three 15 yr old teenagers formed a group called Day Zero and they planned an incredible and devastating attack on their school which also identified a specific student and teacher they would kill before firing indiscriminately targeting law enforcement specifically to obtain more weapons. They planned on ending the school attack with a group suicide.  

Judging from the amount of material confiscated and the detail of the plans, Sheriff Strain said, the boys apparently had been planning the attack throughout the summer. He didn't know if the targets were chosen because of something that happened last school year. He would not say whether they already had guns or where they planned to get them, nor would he comment about a possible motive. But Bonnet said it wasn't race, because the arrested boys are of different races. Strain also didn't know whether Day Zero might have had more than three members, adding, "But from every shred of evidence we have collected and every shred of intelligence we have been able to garner, we don't believe there were any other participants" in the alleged plot. The boys turned themselves in this week. A bond hearing Monday will decide if they can leave the juvenile detention center.

Strain said extra deputies are always posted around schools on the first day of classes, and Monday will be "all of that and then some ... Steps most parents will readily notice, and steps that not even students will see." He quickly added of the enhanced security, "I don't want anyone to think this will happen one day and then it will be over." He wouldn't give details.

School Superintendent Folse said he did not know how many students reported the threat or how worried they were. "It alerted them enough to turn it over to authorities, with trust that the people they alerted would look into it and take it seriously." "I'm very proud of them for stepping up and doing the right thing," Folse said.

EVERYONE IN THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY MUST PROMOTE "SEE OR HEAR SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING" ...IT SAVES LIVES.

NYPD Releases Comprehensive Active Shooter Document for Study

The NYPD Counterterrorism Bureau released a document pertaining to the Active Shooter phenomenon titled: NYPD Active Shooter Recommendations and Analysis for Risk Mitigation. (If you have difficulty with the link, just Google search the title). It is a PDF file document that has four parts and an Appendix.

Part I - Introduction
Part II - Recommendations
Part III - Analysis
Part IV - Analytic Methodology

Appendix - a compendium of a variety of 281 active shooter incidents in a variety of locations ; office, commercial business, factory . warehouse, SCHOOLS, and other locations.

THE SCHOOL ACTIVE SHOOTER INCIDENTS START ON PAGE 78 OF THE DOCUMENT.

Terrorists & Terrorism: Not near my School....Not in my Town...

In the area of School Preparedness, I am a firm believer in PREPAREDNESS, NOT PARANOIA so I try to present a balanced approach to ALL HAZARDS (Natural or Man-Made; Safety & Security). There is a tendency to focus on safety and security as it relates to school community related man-made threats. Any link to terrorists or terrorism is still a foreign (no pun intended) concept to most Americans as we perceive it as something that happens elsewhere or to someone else.

From 2006 to 2009, this self proclaimed "Muslim Soldier" who confessed to the May 1, 2010 Time Square Car Bomb attempt worked 5 minutes from the school I work at at a distance of less than 2 miles...?

I make this point not for the sensational value or inferring that any school was a target of this terrorist, while it wasn't PROBABLE, it was POSSIBLE. Not trying to reverse-engineer the probable logic path of a terrorist attack at a school in the US, but is it POSSIBLE. Schools are generally considered softer targets and are not overtly,or always designed, with security measures in mind. (Some schools still actually debate keeping their front door locked during the school day...?)

When the 30 year old recently naturalized Pakistani-American FAISAL SHAHZAD was arrested for and confessed to being the Times Square Car Bomber all of America wanted to know:
WHO was he? A 30 year old recently naturalized (from Pakistan) citizen living in Shelton, Connecticut who was a college graduate, husband, father, home-owner; who fell on hard financial times.
Was he alone or part of a larger group? Where did he come from? He traveled to Pakistan his country of origin and received bomb-making classes from the Islamic Extremist Network (Al Qaeda / Taliban associates).
How did he plan, prepare, and execute this attempted attack? He attended bomb training in Pakistan twice. He selected the time, location, and method to create maximum casualties at a symbolic location (NYC). He illegally purchased a car which he used for the car bombing attempt. He received cash drop offs for funding twice from a supporter, once in Massachusetts and once on Long, Island NY. He had an weapon with him for self defense.
Why did he commit this terrorist act? Supporting Islamic extremist views of "self-defense" against the US forces in Muslim countries in the Middle East. His claims of revenge for the US indiscriminate killing of Muslims, and US forces in Muslim lands...etc.
Why did he complete this terrorist act? The bomb failed to detonate and the car bomb left suspiciously parked was discovered by an alert street vendor who notified NYPD who evacuated the area. He was arrested 53 hours later boarding a US flight to the United Arab Emirates as he attempted to escape.

While not something anyone of us likes to consider, but their are mentally unbalanced individuals, criminals, extremists, and terrorists sometimes functioning (living, working) as close as five minutes away from your school community -you cannot rule out or wish away the possibility, despite its probability.