Enquire Now

Sadly American style gun violence has come to haunt schools in Australia.

A teenager has become the first student to be jailed for carrying out a school shooting in Australia.

The 15-year-old young man from our great city of Perth fired three bullets with two guns at the Atlantis Beach Baptist College last May. Wihkum was established to provide the means to our great teachers and educationists to prevent and mitigate the damage from such brazen acts of violence. 

Staff and students were left cowering in cupboards and under desks before police in the end managed to arrest him. No one was hurt in the shooting. This has come as a wake up call to authorities across Perth and the nation that Australian school shootings are no longer a fear but a sad reality. 

The judge who sentenced him to three years in juvenile detention said “good luck” had “prevented a tragic outcome”. This cannot be left to luck alone. The Perth school shooting has brought attention to the need to prevent such or greater tragedies from repeating themselves in the future.

The Wikhum difference in preventing school violence

The question naturally comes up with ways to prevent school shootings in the future. This can only be done with a multifaceted approach to the problem. It is not a question of whether armed guards prevent school shootings or whether the right communication system such as Wihkum is the answer. The answer lies in a combination of things to come up with the best possible protection for our children. 

Lawyers and Perth Children’s Court Judge Hylton Quail were unable to find any record of a precedent sentencing case anywhere in the nation.

Simon Freitag, the teen’s lawyer, had requested Judge Quail to consider a non-custodial term as his client had severe depression at the time and suffered from an autism spectrum disorder.9

He added that the boy was heartbroken due to an unsuccessful relationship and gossip that was being spread about him.

Two of the bullets he fired struck buildings as the school, which is in Perth’s northern suburbs, went into lockdown. The age of the students ranges from six to 16.

The boy then called the police and stated he intended to “kill people and myself”, but had a change of heart as he did not want his siblings to be related to a murderer. Police then came and arrested him.

He had taken two hunting guns and ammunition from his dad’s gun cabinet and driven to the school’s car park, where he started shooting on 24 May 2023.

Perth school shooting caused great fear.

Local media reported that one teacher later reported to the police she had never been so afraid, and texted her fiance when in hiding to say she loved them. In such times equipment such as that from Wihkum can help coordinate a better security response. 

State prosecutors said one pupil “ran for his life”. One lay down on the grass behind a school bag – a teacher who saw the student thought they had been hit.

At a plea hearing, the court was informed that in the 18 days before the incident, the teen went on the Internet about subjects such as school shootings, gun violence, and the age of criminal responsibility in Western Australia. He look up phrases such as “are there school shootings in Australia” and “what happens to mass murderers in Australia?”.

On the social media app Discord, the shooter also discussed shooting guns at the school with another person. The night before the shooting, he warned the friend to skip school. However, the friend did not believe him as he had not acted on such threats in the past.

Last December, the shooter pleaded guilty to many charges. They include endangering the lives of teachers and students, discharging a firearm to create fear, possessing firearms,  bullets and driving without a license.

His lawyer Mr Freitag said at the time that the mental damage on those at the school would weigh greatly.

“I do need to say out loud the very obvious point that this has caused significant fear and distress,” he said.

Conclusion

The school shooting in Perth could have been much worse. Had the shooter not had a change of heart, he could have caused massive bloodshed. This as the Judge himself said was a matter of great luck. 

At Wikhum, we believe that the safety of our children is paramount and that schools can never be over-prepared for such situations. After all there is nothing that is more precious than our children. The onus of responsibility is on schools to roll out discreet and multi-channel communication systems that work in real time to make sure that our children and our schools are safe.

A discreet messaging system that sends out messages and helps coordinate a response is an absolute must have for schools not just in Perth but in Australia as a whole.