Whether a K-12 or College Campus - they are both educational institutions and workplaces. The attached article (https://www.campussafetymagazine.com/news/university-wisconsin-madison-grad-student-arrested-threats/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=content&utm_source=email&utm_medium=mc&utm_campaign=382574) is a disturbing reminder in the current environment, and highlights the need for organizations to establish multi-disciplinary threat assessment teams as part of a comprehensive threat management plan. This team will collaborate to address early indications of concerning behavior or incidents and ideally intervene before this potential threatening behavior escalates.
Once your threat management program is fully supported from top leadership and implemented, and your threat assessment team is formed - the organization needs to then define concerning or prohibited behavior or activity. This is best cemented in effectively written policies with consequences defined and enforced. Persons engaged in concerning behavior can be held accountable at earlier stages before it escalates to threatening acts or criminal activity.
From this article, we don't know if this former student exhibited concerning or prohibited behavior while a student at UW-Madison,....but the terror many of the students and employees (faculty) endured in the 8 months leading up to the suspects arrest may potentially have been avoided if there were documented concerns that occurred previously and if early intervention and mitigation efforts (i.e., mental health resources/assistance) occurred before it escalated to this unfortunate conduct and the extreme threats described in this article. Based on the information provided, this person clearly needed help sooner.......
Early intervention is key. Accountability is necessary.
(This post is not a commentary on whether the school or officials did anything right or wrong in this case - there is not enough information provided. This post only serves to highlight the need to identify and address concerning behavior in any organization.)