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Amanda Butterfield Reporting Today's incidents follow a week's worth of school violence. The first shooting took place last Wednesday at a small Colorado high school.
It raises some questions: Are these latest shootings copycat crimes? And how do we help our children cope with fears of school violence? We went to some experts to answer those questions.
The Colorado fatal hostage situation and today's tragedy in Pennsylvania have similarities you can't ignore. But that doesn't necessarily mean today's is a copy cat crime.
Heather Melton/Asst. Professor of Sociology: "Clearly these people had issues with women."
Heather Melton, Asst. Professor of Sociology at the University of Utah points out the clearest similarity in the two cases.
Heather Melton/Asst. Professor of Sociology: "It's girls. They're going after girls."
On Wednesday, in Bailey, Colorado, police say Duane Morrison walked into Platte Canyon High with a gun and took six girls hostage. He killed one of them and then himself.
Today, in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, Charles Carl Roberts arms himself with several guns and enters an Amish schoolhouse. He takes only girls hostage, kills three of them, and then himself.
So, was Roberts copying Morrison?
Heather Melton/Asst. Professor of Sociology: "It's not a copy cat in the sense that someone saw it last week and decided they would do it."
Heather Melton/Asst. Professor of Sociology: "Now the way he did it may be because of what he saw last week."
Add these two cases with last Friday's, when a Wisconsin student shot and killed his principal, and today's lockdown of schools in Las Vegas as police searched for a teenager accused of having a gun on school property.
It's normal for your kids to get a little nervous about going to school. As parents, talk to them.
Tammer Attallah/LCSW Valley Mental Health: "Asking them, 'What's the school plan? What happens when there's a school emergency?'"
If your child doesn't know, have them ask their teachers.
Tammer Attallah/LCSW Valley Mental Health: "Prevention is the best thing, knowing they're in a safe environment because they have plans in place."
So if your son or daughter is ever part of a scene like this, they'll know what to do.
Tammer Attallah/LCSW Valley Mental Health: "Kids that practice earthquake and fire drills are more likely when there is a real emergency to do that with the least amount of panic and anxiety possible."
If your kids have been following these stories and have nightmares or are irritable, that's to be expected. But if it persists, you may want to take them to talk to a counselor.
