4/20 again: columbine, okc, waco & why

...and again, we look at the school shooter anniversary,
the copycat effect & the mass murder contagion...

columbine students strive 10 years after massacre

the copycat effect: 4/20 again
from copycat effect: Obviously, one meaning of "420" is directly linked to the Columbine date, as "4/20" is April 20, the anniversary of the Littleton, Colorado shootings. This date is also Adolf Hitler's birthday. The Columbine shooters, Klebold and Harris were extremely conscious that it was Hitler's birthdate, and often spoke German to each other, while walking around in long black trench coats, videotaping themselves... The use of "420" for almost four decades is related to the use of marijuana... Adolf Hitler, marijuana, Columbine: For copycats, 420 appears to have served as a reflective mirror. For the rest of us, 420 may reflect a dangerous combination that has resulted in terrible memories that now reach beyond the mere date of April 20th.

flashback: waco, columbine & okc

what police learned from columbine
from washington times: The first officers on the scene had never trained for what they found at Columbine High School: No hostages. No demands. Just killing. In the hours that followed, the nation watched in horror as the standard police procedure for dealing with shooting rampages in the U.S. proved tragically, heartbreakingly flawed on April 20, 1999.

flashbacks: campus gun ban disarmed virginia victims &
anger over US shooting warnings

okc bombing, columbine tragedy remembered back-to-back
from associated content: The Oklahoma City bombing and Columbine school shooting tragedy may be the most publicized acts of domestic terrorism in recent memory. The Oklahoma bombing took away 168 people in 1995, while Columbine took far less lives by comparison. But both Oklahoma City and Columbine shook America, with brands of violence that could scarcely be imagined by many, in those pre-War on Terror days. The Oklahoma City and Columbine tragedies are side-by-side even further, considering they almost have the same anniversary date.

flashback: ides of april: waco, okc, columbine & virginia tech

2yr anniversary of virginia tech shooting
from wtap: Thursday mark[ed] the two-year anniversary of a college campus tragedy. 32 people died April 16, 2007 in a shooting on Virginia Tech's campus. Since then colleges across the nation have become better prepared for similar situations. Campus police at Marietta College have created "pioneer connect" that sends e-mails and text messages to notify students and staff of emergencies. They've also started utilizing the campus radio station to broadcast emergencies. "Since Columbine, Virginia Tech, and Northern Illinois, it goes to show that these things are continuing and they're continuing to escalate, so we all have to be prepared because we just don't know where it's going to happen," Chief David Valkinburg said. Campus police now train with the city police to be ready for an active shooter situation.

revenge of the 'waco gene'

copycat updates: oprah cancelled columbine anniversary show & killers pick special dates