'Next school shooter' voice note may have been a cry for help - Semaj
The 17 year-old Wolmer's Boys' School student at the centre of a controversial viral voice note, in which he warned that he will be the "next school shooter", will be given a psychological assessment on Tuesday. The Ministry of Education will assist the police in doing the assessment.
That dangerous boast was given added heft given that last Wednesday, an expelled student shot and killed at least 17 persons in Parkland, Florida, and it sent parents scrambling to get their children from the institution.
Now, many are asking what were the reasons for this outburst? Was the student on drugs? Was it a cry for help?
"The voice note may have been a cry for help and attention, a kind of warning of 'see what I can do' so that he can get some sort of intervention," psychologist Dr Leachim Semaj told Loop Jamaica reporter Claude Mills.
"Schools can be a painful experience for young teens, the cliques that make life miserable for others, the disruptive teasing...we must make sure that there are consequences for those who make others miserable, we need to call out the cyber bullies, identify them and punish them," Semaj said.
Dr Semaj praised the quick work of the school's administration and the police who were able to "track the situation", and he praised the media houses who decided not to share the explosive voice note.
"Now, this situation should serve to alert guidance counsellors, and deans of discipline to monitor their schools and ask: can we identify those people who are in a similar situation in our schools?'," Dr.Semaj said.
Adolescence can be a tough time for young boys figuring out how to be men in a macho society, and how to fit in with their peers. Rampage violence is often perpetrated by young males, and a lot of work in neuroscience has been devoted to impulse control issues of the adolescent brain and why young men become violent. Some cite attachment disorders from neglect or rejection.
"During adolescence, there is a need to fit in, and to be accepted by one's peers. At this time, the ultimate negative is not to fit in for whatever reason. Schools are competitive environments, there are those who excel at sports, and those who outdo others in academics, and those who are not doing well, we need to find a way to help them to cope," he said
The 17-year-old Wolmer's Boys' School student was taken into custody for questioning Monday, as it relates to alleged threats of violence and murder because he appeared to feel ostracised. Dr Semaj calls that sort of pre-emptive and violent response "learned behaviour".
"That is based on the models that are reported in the traditional media and social media. Teens in similar situations often have two options: one, suicide brought on by depression, or two, take someone else's life or retaliate against the entity. More women attempt suicide, but it is men who are more successful because of the methods they choose to commit the act," Dr Semaj said.
"This young man is getting the help he needs."
Local police continue to urge individuals to desist from circulating the audio clip saying it may cause undue anxiety.
An orphaned 19-year-old with a troubled past and an AR-15 rifle was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder Thursday morning after being questioned for hours by state and federal authorities following the deadliest school shooting in the U.S. in five years.
Fifteen wounded survivors were hospitalized as bodies were recovered from inside and around Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Just before the shooting broke out, some students thought they were having another fire drill.
Such an exercise had forced them to leave their classrooms hours earlier. So when the alarm went off Wednesday afternoon shortly before they were to be dismissed, they once again filed out into the hallways.
That's when police say Nikolas Cruz, equipped with a gas mask, smoke grenades and multiple magazines of ammunition, opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon, killing 17 people and sending hundreds of students fleeing into the streets. It was the nation's deadliest school shooting since a gunman attacked an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, more than five years ago.
"Our district is in a tremendous state of grief and sorrow," said Robert Runcie, superintendent of the school district in Parkland, about an hour's drive north of Miami. "It is a horrible day for us."
Authorities offered no immediate details about Cruz or his possible motive, except to say that he had been kicked out of the high school, which has about 3,000 students. Students who knew him described a volatile teenager whose strange behavior had caused others to end friendships with him.
Cruz's mother Lynda Cruz died of pneumonia on Nov. 1 neighbors, friends and family members said, according to the Sun Sentinel . Cruz and her husband, who died of a heart attack several years ago, adopted Nikolas and his biological brother, Zachary, after the couple moved from Long Island in New York to Broward County.
The boys were left in the care of a family friend after their mother died, family member Barbara Kumbatovich, of Long Island, said.
Unhappy there, Nikolas Cruz asked to move in with a friend's family in northwest Broward. The family agreed and Cruz moved in around Thanksgiving. According to the family's lawyer, who did not identify them, they knew that Cruz owned the AR-15 but made him keep it locked up in a cabinet. He did have the key, however.
Jim Lewis said the family is devastated and didn't see this coming. They are cooperating with authorities, he said.
Victoria Olvera, a 17-year-old junior at the school, said Cruz was expelled last school year because he got into a fight with his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend. She said he had been abusive to his girlfriend.
"I think everyone had in their minds if anybody was going to do it, it was going to be him," she said.
Cruz was taken into custody without a fight about an hour after the shooting in a residential neighborhood about a mile away. He had multiple magazines of ammunition, authorities said.
"It's catastrophic. There really are no words," said Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.
Frantic parents rushed to the school to find SWAT team members and ambulances surrounding the huge campus and emergency workers who appeared to be treating the wounded on sidewalks. Students who hadn't run began leaving in a single-file line with their hands over their heads as officers urged them to evacuate quickly.
Hearing loud bangs as the shooter fired, many of the students inside hid under desks or in closets, and barricaded doors.
"We were in the corner, away from the windows," said freshman Max Charles, who said he heard five gunshots. "The teacher locked the door and turned off the light. I thought maybe I could die or something."
As he was leaving the building, he saw four dead students and one dead teacher. He said he was relieved when he finally found his mother.
"I was happy that I was alive," Max said. "She was crying when she saw me."
Noah Parness, a 17-year-old junior, said he and the other students calmly went outside to their fire-drill areas when he suddenly heard popping sounds.
"We saw a bunch of teachers running down the stairway, and then everybody shifted and broke into a sprint," Parness said. "I hopped a fence."
Most of the fatalities were inside the building, though some victims were found fatally shot outside, the sheriff said.
Sen. Bill Nelson told CNN that Cruz had pulled the fire alarm "so the kids would come pouring out of the classrooms into the hall."
"And there the carnage began," said Nelson, who said he was briefed by the FBI.
The scene was reminiscent of the Newtown attack, which shocked even a country numbed by the regularity of school shootings. The Dec. 14, 2012, assault at Sandy Hook Elementary School killed 26 people: 20 first-graders and six staff members. The 20-year-old gunman, who also fatally shot his mother in her bed, then killed himself.
Not long after Wednesday's attack in Florida, Michael Nembhard was sitting in his garage on a cul-de-sac when he saw a young man in a burgundy shirt walking down the street. In an instant, a police cruiser pulled up, and officers jumped out with guns drawn.
"All I heard was 'Get on the ground! Get on the ground!'" Nembhard said. He said Cruz did as he was told.
The school was to be closed for the rest of the week.
"Schools can be a painful experience for young teens, the cliques that make life miserable for others, the disruptive teasing...we must make sure that there are consequences for those who make others miserable, we need to call out the cyber bullies, identify them and punish them," Semaj said.
Dr Semaj praised the quick work of the school's administration and the police who were able to "track the situation", and he praised the media houses who decided not to share the explosive voice note.
"Now, this situation should serve to alert guidance counsellors, and deans of discipline to monitor their schools and ask: can we identify those people who are in a similar situation in our schools?'," Dr.Semaj said.
Adolescence can be a tough time for young boys figuring out how to be men in a macho society, and how to fit in with their peers. Rampage violence is often perpetrated by young males, and a lot of work in neuroscience has been devoted to impulse control issues of the adolescent brain and why young men become violent. Some cite attachment disorders from neglect or rejection.
"During adolescence, there is a need to fit in, and to be accepted by one's peers. At this time, the ultimate negative is not to fit in for whatever reason. Schools are competitive environments, there are those who excel at sports, and those who outdo others in academics, and those who are not doing well, we need to find a way to help them to cope," he said
The 17-year-old Wolmer's Boys' School student was taken into custody for questioning Monday, as it relates to alleged threats of violence and murder because he appeared to feel ostracised. Dr Semaj calls that sort of pre-emptive and violent response "learned behaviour".
"That is based on the models that are reported in the traditional media and social media. Teens in similar situations often have two options: one, suicide brought on by depression, or two, take someone else's life or retaliate against the entity. More women attempt suicide, but it is men who are more successful because of the methods they choose to commit the act," Dr Semaj said.
"This young man is getting the help he needs."
Local police continue to urge individuals to desist from circulating the audio clip saying it may cause undue anxiety.
Florida teen charged with 17 murder counts in school attack
An orphaned 19-year-old with a troubled past and an AR-15 rifle was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder Thursday morning after being questioned for hours by state and federal authorities following the deadliest school shooting in the U.S. in five years.
Fifteen wounded survivors were hospitalized as bodies were recovered from inside and around Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Just before the shooting broke out, some students thought they were having another fire drill.
Such an exercise had forced them to leave their classrooms hours earlier. So when the alarm went off Wednesday afternoon shortly before they were to be dismissed, they once again filed out into the hallways.
That's when police say Nikolas Cruz, equipped with a gas mask, smoke grenades and multiple magazines of ammunition, opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon, killing 17 people and sending hundreds of students fleeing into the streets. It was the nation's deadliest school shooting since a gunman attacked an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, more than five years ago.
"Our district is in a tremendous state of grief and sorrow," said Robert Runcie, superintendent of the school district in Parkland, about an hour's drive north of Miami. "It is a horrible day for us."
Authorities offered no immediate details about Cruz or his possible motive, except to say that he had been kicked out of the high school, which has about 3,000 students. Students who knew him described a volatile teenager whose strange behavior had caused others to end friendships with him.
Cruz's mother Lynda Cruz died of pneumonia on Nov. 1 neighbors, friends and family members said, according to the Sun Sentinel . Cruz and her husband, who died of a heart attack several years ago, adopted Nikolas and his biological brother, Zachary, after the couple moved from Long Island in New York to Broward County.
The boys were left in the care of a family friend after their mother died, family member Barbara Kumbatovich, of Long Island, said.
Unhappy there, Nikolas Cruz asked to move in with a friend's family in northwest Broward. The family agreed and Cruz moved in around Thanksgiving. According to the family's lawyer, who did not identify them, they knew that Cruz owned the AR-15 but made him keep it locked up in a cabinet. He did have the key, however.
Jim Lewis said the family is devastated and didn't see this coming. They are cooperating with authorities, he said.
Victoria Olvera, a 17-year-old junior at the school, said Cruz was expelled last school year because he got into a fight with his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend. She said he had been abusive to his girlfriend.
"I think everyone had in their minds if anybody was going to do it, it was going to be him," she said.
Cruz was taken into custody without a fight about an hour after the shooting in a residential neighborhood about a mile away. He had multiple magazines of ammunition, authorities said.
"It's catastrophic. There really are no words," said Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.
Frantic parents rushed to the school to find SWAT team members and ambulances surrounding the huge campus and emergency workers who appeared to be treating the wounded on sidewalks. Students who hadn't run began leaving in a single-file line with their hands over their heads as officers urged them to evacuate quickly.
Hearing loud bangs as the shooter fired, many of the students inside hid under desks or in closets, and barricaded doors.
"We were in the corner, away from the windows," said freshman Max Charles, who said he heard five gunshots. "The teacher locked the door and turned off the light. I thought maybe I could die or something."
As he was leaving the building, he saw four dead students and one dead teacher. He said he was relieved when he finally found his mother.
"I was happy that I was alive," Max said. "She was crying when she saw me."
Noah Parness, a 17-year-old junior, said he and the other students calmly went outside to their fire-drill areas when he suddenly heard popping sounds.
"We saw a bunch of teachers running down the stairway, and then everybody shifted and broke into a sprint," Parness said. "I hopped a fence."
Most of the fatalities were inside the building, though some victims were found fatally shot outside, the sheriff said.
Sen. Bill Nelson told CNN that Cruz had pulled the fire alarm "so the kids would come pouring out of the classrooms into the hall."
"And there the carnage began," said Nelson, who said he was briefed by the FBI.
The scene was reminiscent of the Newtown attack, which shocked even a country numbed by the regularity of school shootings. The Dec. 14, 2012, assault at Sandy Hook Elementary School killed 26 people: 20 first-graders and six staff members. The 20-year-old gunman, who also fatally shot his mother in her bed, then killed himself.
Not long after Wednesday's attack in Florida, Michael Nembhard was sitting in his garage on a cul-de-sac when he saw a young man in a burgundy shirt walking down the street. In an instant, a police cruiser pulled up, and officers jumped out with guns drawn.
"All I heard was 'Get on the ground! Get on the ground!'" Nembhard said. He said Cruz did as he was told.
The school was to be closed for the rest of the week.
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