Convicted East Greenbush school shooter shares insight with law enforcement

The Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office and the New York State Sheriff’s Association are hosting their inaugural school safety training this week.

This comes as some Capital Region schools are dealing with an uptick in violence.

One speaker gave law enforcement a unique perspective.

Jon Romano was 16 he fired a shotgun at students and teachers at Columbia High School in East Greenbush in 2004. This is the very first time NewsChannel 13 has ever spoken to him, and for Romano it’s the very first time he’s speaking out about what happened.

Romano gave law enforcement officials and school administrators advice on what they can do to prevent school shootings. He says when he carried out the shooting, he was not in a good place mentally. He says it’s important for the educators to have bigger focus on mental health.

I’m in Saratoga Springs today. We’re covering the Committee on Policing and Safeguarding School Safety Conference. pic.twitter.com/sctsz0rDuZ

— Jonathan Hunter (@hunter_jonathan) February 22, 2022

Romano says if you can give students help before they show signs of red flags, he believes more things can be prevented.

“If we can have them opening up and getting rid of any toxicity that might be building up in them, than hopefully nobody will even come close to doing anything that I have done,” said Romano.

Learn more about why this event was put together by watching the video of Jonathan Hunter’s story.

DIGITAL EXTRA: Interview with convicted East Greenbush school shooter Jon Romano