Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
FBI Leads Massive Manhunt For Armed, 'Extremely Dangerous' Woman Who Is 'Infatuated' With Columbine Shooting
Reuters: FBI Seeks Woman 'Infatuated With Columbine' In Colorado Schools Threat
A woman described as "infatuated" with the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, who bought a pump-action shotgun and ammunition after she flew into Colorado on Monday, was an extreme threat the FBI and police said on Tuesday. Columbine and dozens of other Denver-area schools were issued a security threat Tuesday afternoon and a decision will be made early Wednesday as to whether schools will be in session or other security measures taken, officials said in a late night press conference. (Coffman, 4/17)
The Associated Press: Heightened Alert After Threat Locks Down Columbine
All schools in the Denver area were urged to tighten security because the threat was deemed "credible and general," said Patricia Billinger, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Public Safety. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and the FBI say Pais traveled to Colorado from Miami on Monday night and bought a pump-action shotgun and ammunition. (Foody and Selvin, 4/17)
The New York Times: Officials Seek Woman ‘Infatuated’ With Columbine Who Made Threats In Denver Area
“Her comments, her actions that we have heard about from others tend to cause us great concern that she may pose a threat to a school,” he added. If authorities find Ms. Pais, it is not clear if they can arrest her. The bulletin sent to local police said they did not have probable cause for arrest, but that officers should detain her “and evaluate mental health status.” (Turkewitz, 4/16)
Denver Post: Since Columbine Shooting, Colorado Schools See Increase In Lockdowns, Reported Threats
March 7, 2018, started as an ordinary day in Fruita, but it rapidly took a harrowing turn when parents received a call that their children’s schools were in lockdown. In the post-Columbine world, almost everyone knows the formula: locks, lights, out of sight. Try to make yourself as difficult to see — and shoot — as possible, in the hopes that a gunman will pass by a dark, silent room. One woman posted on Facebook that she had “heart palpitations” while she waited for news of her granddaughter, who was attending Fruita 8/9. Another said her “heart stopped” when she read that Fruita Monument High School was on lockdown. (Wingerter, 4/16)
The Associated Press: 2020 Hopeful Hickenlooper Meets Columbine Shooting Survivors
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on Tuesday met with survivors of the Columbine High School attack and other survivors of the state's mass shootings just four days before the 20th anniversary of the Columbine massacre. Hickenlooper, who is seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, has been touting gun control measures he signed following the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, which killed 12 people. (4/16)
The New York Times: Gun Research Is Suddenly Hot
In 1996, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped funding research into the causes of gun violence. And for decades the field suffered from neglect: low funding and a corresponding limited interest in academia. Then came a series of high-profile mass shootings. And donations from billionaires. A result has been a recent surge in state and private funding for gun research, and a revival in interest among journal editors and young academics beginning their careers. (Sanger-Katz, 4/17)
Denver Post: Columbine High School Shooting: Little Gun Control Has Passed The Last 20 Years
More than 200 lives have been claimed in American school shootings since the massacre at Columbine High School 20 years ago this week. That total doesn’t include hundreds more murdered in mass killings in nonschool settings, such as the 2017 Las Vegas shooting (58 killed) or the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Fla., the year before (49 killed). (Aguilar, 4/14)
The Associated Press: School Shootings' Effects On Police Officers Understudied
The first SWAT team members to see the horror in the Columbine High School library had to step around bodies and ignore a wounded student's plea for help as they searched for shooters they didn't know had already died by their own hands. As member Grant Whitus put it, officers carried something home with them that day, a level of trauma and a sense of futility that stayed with them for years and may have contributed to the team's demise. (Banda, 4/17)
Los Angeles Times: LAPD Records Drop In Shootings By Officers But Still Leads The Nation
The use of deadly force by Los Angeles police and the number of suspects killed in violent encounters dropped in 2018, officials reported Tuesday. Even with reductions, the LAPD led the nation in fatal police shootings last year, with 14, the report said. Los Angeles police officers fired their weapons 33 times last year compared with 44 shootings the previous year — a 25% decrease, according to the report presented to the Police Commission. It’s the second-fewest incidences of police shootings since 1989, the report said. (Puente, 4/16)
