Good morning, Bulletin readers. Today, The Trace’s Elizabeth Van Brocklin is out with a revealing look at a practice called “scoop and run,” which could give police another tool for preventing gun deaths. To report her story, a partnership with NBC Philadelphia, Elizabeth tracked down shooting victims who were saved when cops tossed them into the back of cruisers — and pressed other cities’ police departments on why they aren’t more open to doing the same.
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WHAT TO KNOW TODAY
NEW from THE TRACE: In Philadelphia, cops often transport shooting victims to the hospital rather than wait for EMTs. Experts say more cities should follow the city’s lead. Trauma doctors say “scoop and run” may save lives by getting patients to the hospital in the critical moments before they bleed out. Experts say it can improve community relations. But scoop and run has yet to catch on in many cities battling high rates of gun violence. Elizabeth Van Brocklin digs into why.
The number of hate crimes reported to the FBI jumped by 17 percent last year, according to federal data released yesterday. Sixty percent of the reported incidents were racially motivated. ICYMI: One hate crimes expert is bracing for an increase in hate-motivated shootings. Though rare, premeditated attacks like the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting are more likely to involve guns, as perpetrators will want to inflict the most damage and thus opt for the most lethal weapon they can readily obtain, criminologist Jack McDevitt told The Trace. Related headline: An Ohio man was arrested after pointing a gun at his neighbors and yelling racial slurs this weekend. A victim told police that the 24-year-old said his family was in the KKK as he threatened to shoot a group of people at an apartment complex.
Is school safety technology worth the price tag? To find out whether the $2.7 billion school security market is fulfilling its promise, The Washington Post surveyed dozens of schools that had experienced shootings about what could have prevented them. Of the 34 schools that responded, only one suggested that enhanced school security might have reduced the bloodshed. Most said that there was nothing they could have done or stressed the importance of creating more trusting, caring communities. Many had robust security plans already in place, but still could not stop the incidents. Others emphasized that the responsibility to prevent school shootings shouldn’t fall on schools in the first place.
Ohio lawmakers are considering a “stand your ground” bill. The Ohio House is expected to approve legislation today that would eliminate the duty to retreat before using lethal force, and shift the burden to prosecutors to disprove self-defense claims. If passed, the bill will move to the Senate. But the state’s outgoing Republican governor says he would veto it. John Kasich is pushing for a “red flag” bill instead. “The idea,” he said Thursday, “is that if somebody in our family or our workplace is emotionally unstable and poses a threat, we should have the ability to go to court and take guns from those people until they can be stabilized.”
Age limits on gun purchases can reduce violence without infringing on liberty, public health researchers argue in a new article in Preventive Medicine. The article examines the ethics of laws raising the minimum age for firearms to 21. “We conclude that gun ownership is an important right, but one that nevertheless is ethical to regulate,” the researchers wrote.
The Michigan man who shot at a black teen asking for directions will go to prison. Jeffrey Zeigler, 53, was sentenced Tuesday to four to 10 years behind bars for firing his weapon at a teenager who knocked on his door. Zeigler says he believed the 14-year-old boy, who got lost after missing his bus to school, intended to rob him. Video footage shows Zeigler aiming a gun at the teenager, though he originally said the gun fired unintentionally. “This will affect my son forever,” the boy’s mother said.
An employee at a fast food distribution center opened fire on his coworkers. Three people at the Albuquerque warehouse were wounded in the shooting on Monday night. The gunman was later found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
A school resource officer shot himself in his office. Eastern Tech High School in Baltimore County went on lockdown on Monday after a 21-year veteran of the police force died by suicide inside the school. Students remembered the officer as a friendly face on campus. “He was genuinely a kind person, and you wouldn’t think there would be anything wrong,” one of them said.
ONE LAST THING
Without red flag laws, officers go to great lengths to disarm people who pose a threat to public safety. Most active shooters exhibit warning signs before they attack, according to FBI research. But agents often struggle to act on this intelligence, in part because of lobbying efforts to block legislation that would allow police to temporarily disarm people believed to pose a threat.
Recently in Detroit, law enforcement agents resorted to a rarely enforced law against lying on a credit card application to disarm a legal gun owner whose behavior concerned federal agents. Prosecutors say the 25-year-old idolized mass shooters like the Columbine gunmen, posted about taking “revenge” on black people, and searched online for topics like, “How long do police take to respond to an active shooter?”
“When we talk about red flags,” the assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan said, “these are literally staring us in the face.” A red flag bill has been filed in the Michigan legislature, but it has not seen any movement since its introduction because of Republican opposition.
