Tip to FBI may prevent school massacre in Austin

AUSTIN, Texas — A tip on social media helps prevent a possible shooting at Graham Elementary School in northeast Austin.

The informant alerted the FBI to 17-year-old Giana Castillo and her posts in which she planned a shooting at her former elementary school. Castillo reportedly wrote about hating people and trying to get a gun. She is now facing charges of terroristic threats for allegedly planning a shooting at Graham Elementary School in the Austin Independent School District.

The tip helped law enforcement avert a tragedy and arrest her on Friday.

One thing distinguishes this case from many others.

“It's very rare for a teenage shooter to be a female shooter. There have been so few that I don't think there's really been any rigorous research on them because there are so few. Almost all of these cases in the United States and Europe have been male, young men,” said Ron Avi Astor, a professor of human services at UCLA who specializes in school violence.

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In many ways, however, this case bears strong similarities to other mass shootings.

“Another common denominator is that she posts everything on the Internet. Most other shooters didn't do that, and that's why I really commended you for saying you were reporting on a prevented shooting,” Astor said.

In some of these social media posts, Castillo expresses self-loathing and hatred and talks about trying to obtain a gun and ammunition. Someone saw the posts written by hammer-dot-mishap or hammer-underscore-mishap on Instagram and tipped off the FBI. Agents traced the accounts back to Castillo, who questioned them last week, leading to her arrest and charge of terroristic threatening.

“I think it's really helpful to view these types of shootings as terrorism,” Astor said.

Professor Astor says reporting on a prevented shooting this time could encourage more people to report worrying social media posts in the future. “The main reason these shootings are prevented is because a friend or family member or someone who reads the post or an email realizes that the matter is so serious that they need to let someone know about it,” Astor said.

Austin ISD is temporarily increasing its police presence at Graham Elementary School.