(M. Follman) Most of the students who were involved in the attacks were socially isolated from groups of their peers, due to the fact that they, too, were bullied, intimidated, or humiliated at some point in time. Even more alarming, the reports showed that in thirteen of those "copycat cases," the intentions were to take more lives than the Columbine perpetrators had. Additionally, ten of the attackers showed the idolization of the Columbine attacks, by proclaiming that the attackers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were their heroes. (M. Follman) Following the massacre at Columbine, the police were in a race to hear the next teenager's cry for help, hoping to stop the next mass shooting from happening. (Borum).
In an effort to alleviate the issue of social isolation in our schools, some pioneering with local programs took place, which were designed to help identify which students who may hurt others or themselves. The type of student was typically the "loner," who had little or no self-esteem, the type who would snap, in an instant. In one case in Oregon, in September of 2000, the police were able to prevent a 16-year-old named Erik Ayala from committing suicide. They later discovered that Ayala had actually planned to attack his best friend and the girl who had just rejected him. Rejection, in Ayala's case, was humiliation. It led him to be more socially isolated, he stayed away from his friends, and went on a search for a way to retaliate. He would try, even if it meant resorting to violence. The threat assessment team kept close tabs on Ayala, who was home-schooled, by frequently visiting him and giving him positive influence. Before you knew it, he was back on track. After his graduation in 2002, his case was handed over to a local adult threat assessment team, in order to continue monitoring his behaviour through counselling and other assessment strategies. Fast forward to January 2009, and despite moving away to Portland, Oregon two years prior it was within a matter of seconds that he snapped; Ayala fatally shot two teenage girls and wounded seven people, most of them also teenagers.
