How to help children cope after shootings like the San Diego mosque killings

Two teenage gunmen killed three men with deep ties to an Islamic center in San Diego while about 140 children were in classrooms. Police say calling 911, locking down the building, and confronting the gunmen prevented the children from being harmed. The gunmen died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds after coming within about 15 feet of accessing classrooms. Researchers and healthcare providers say the effects of such violence can extend beyond those injured or killed. People who witnessed the shooting, including children and adults, and those grieving the deaths are at highest risk for mental health symptoms soon afterward. Proximity to the event is a strong predictor of post-traumatic stress, and children may show acute stress reactions such as flashbacks, nightmares, avoidance, and behavior changes.

"About 140 children in preschool through 3rd grade were in their classrooms at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday when police say two teenage gunmen killed three people. The victims were all men with deep ties to the mosque and the community. Police say their fast actions to call 911, lockdown the building and confront the gunmen kept the school children safe. The San Diego police chief said the gunmen came within 15 feet of being able to access the classrooms."

"The perpetrators, who according to NPR reporting apparently were influenced by white supremacist ideology, died by self-inflicted gunshot wounds, police say. As communities that have weathered such attacks know, the impact of these acts of violence can extend well beyond those who are injured or killed. Researchers and healthcare providers say those who witnessed the shooting children and adults and those grieving the deaths of the three men are most at risk to experience mental health symptoms in the immediate aftermath."

""Individuals who were actually in the buildings and who were directly exposed, those are the individuals that we're most concerned about," says psychologist Julie Kaplow, executive vicepresident for Trauma and Grief Programs and Policy at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute in Texas. "We know that proximity to that kind of event is one of the strongest predictors of post-traumatic stress." People might find themselves struggling with "acute stress reactions," says Kaplow, which tend to occur in the months after a shooting."

"Those symptoms can include, "feeling like the event is happening all over again, flashbacks, nightmares, avoidance, not wanting to think about or talk about what happened." Children, too, can have nightmares and flashbacks. Symptoms can also show up in a child's behaviors. "A lot of the behaviors tha"

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