Hanau, Germany – We can do better.
On February 19th, an extremist, Tobias Rathjen, shot and killed at least nine people in Hanau, Germany before taking his own life. Fueled by racism, hatred, and paranoia, extremists pose a significant risk to citizens of all nations. Unfortunately, this event is one of many in a series of active shooter incidents whose frequency is becoming increasingly regular. That is why Léargas constantly ingests forums, chat rooms, pastebins, and social media sites on the clear and dark web in an attempt to provide advanced warning to those in immediate danger. In most cases, the troubled individual will post numerous online comments, essays, or videos prior to carrying out the attack. Most of these indicators can be found in the online forums frequented by those with extremist beliefs. Léargas has captured indicators surrounding five active shooter situations over the past year, including the Christchurch, New Zealand incident. Leargas began alerting on…