Sandy Hook Anti-Gun Violence Video Goes Viral; Dr. Schwartz To Appear On ‘CBS Evening News’

December 07, 2016

A powerful new public service announcement by Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit formed by families of victims of the 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, hopes to demonstrate that mass shootings are preventable if only people can recognize subtle warning signs.

Dr. Harold I. (Hank) Schwartz, the Institute of Living‘s psychiatrist-in-chief, was interviewed by a medical producer from the “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley” about threat assessment and the specific signs that lead to violent behavior. The story is scheduled as part of the “CBS Evening News” broadcast Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Sandy Hook Promise also released a brochure, “Knowing the Signs,” to supplement the video.

Watch the video produced by Sandy Hook Promise: https://youtu.be/A8syQeFtBKc

The public service announcement, with more than 5 million views on YouTube since its release Friday, preoccupies the viewer with a story about a bored teenaged student named Evan who exchanges messages  scrawled onto a library desktop with an unknown girl. When the two finally meet in the gymnasium at the end of the school year, another student enters a doorway, armed with a rifle.

“While you were watching Evan,” notes the on-screen text, “another student was showing signs of planning a shooting. But no one noticed.”