VICTORIA — Security is being reviewed at British Columbia's schools following the stabbing death of a 13-year-old girl, but metal detectors, security guards and airport-style scanners are not needed to protect students, education and security experts say.
"In a moment when I hear a lot of people panicking, I say this is a very rare case," said Theresa Campbell, a threat assessment expert who works with B.C. school districts on security and anti-bullying issues.
Gabriel Klein, a 21-year-old homeless man, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of the Grade 9 student and aggravated assault in the attack on another student, a 14-year-old girl.
Police and school district officials said a barefoot man walked into Abbotsford Senior Secondary School on Tuesday and attacked the girls before staff confronted and restrained him.
Campbell said in an interview that random attacks — where the accused has no known attachment to the victims or the building — are rare.
"Most of the incidents you hear about in schools and school shootings and other incidents there has been what we call psychological fusion to the site or target," she said. "That does not exist here thus far."
Police and school administrators have said there was no apparent connection between the two girls and the accused.
Campbell's organization, Safer Schools Together, focuses on promoting a culture of safety at schools. She said she runs threat assessment training workshops for school districts and law enforcement agencies across Canada and the United States that help officials identify and stop potential violent incidents before they occur.
"We will review this incident and if we need to address changes because we learned more about this individual and we didn't have some things in place that would have made a difference, you are going to see B.C. make those changes," Campbell said.
Education Minister Mike Bernier said in a statement that the government is awaiting the results of the police investigation before deciding if changes to security policies need to be made.
"Schools are at the heart of their communities and we must work together to ensure they are safe," said Bernier. "Make no mistake, we are going to do everything we can to prevent what has happened from happening again."
Abbotsford school district Supt. Kevin Godden said Wednesday that when something like this "shakes the community to the core" there must be a security review.
B.C. Teachers' Federation resident Glen Hansman said the Abbotsford stabbings do warrant security reviews, but the open community structure at B.C. schools where parents and grandparents can visit and pick up children should not be changed.
"It's appropriate for the province and the school district to be taking a look while at the same time knowing we are not going to set the false expectation that schools are going to be in permanent lock down and like going into an airport," he said.
While police have yet to name the 13-year-old victim, fellow students and social media have identified her as Letisha Reimer. The name of the other young woman who is recovering in hospital has been placed under a publication ban.
