Tony Montalto’s voice softened as he spoke about his forever 14-year-old daughter Gina Rose Montalto, a victim of the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history.
On Feb. 14, 2018, a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School murdered 17 — 14 students and three staff members — and wounded another 17 at the school in Parkland, Fla.
“That day changed my life and my family’s life forever,” Montalto said to a moved audience. “Now, no day will ever be a truly happy one as long as I live.”
Montalto shared a personal and powerful presentation as a guest speaker at the University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu’s 3rd annual Hawai‘i Threat Assessment Conference (HTAC), held July 17-19 at the Hawai‘i Carpenters Training Center in Kapolei. With presentations from leading local and national experts, HTAC focused on national best practices, data, and trends about threat assessment, which is the identification, assessment, and management of threats to prevent incidents of targeted violence.
Montalto is serving his third term as the elected president of Stand with Parkland — The National Association of Families for Safe Schools, and spoke at HTAC on behalf of the advocacy group founded by families who had a loved one killed in the Parkland, Fla., school massacre.
“I understand the importance of training and the need to fight complacency,” Montalto said. “The founding families of Stand with Parkland have chosen a path of instrumental grieving, turning our unfathomable pain into great purpose.”
The advanced-level conference drew about 200 attendees, including representatives from nine campuses in the UH System, public and private K-12 and higher education officials, local organizations, and state and federal agencies. HTAC provided a collaborative, community-based educational opportunity to Hawai‘i’s threat assessment and violence prevention communities.
“I’m pleased to be able to present in front of this group,” Montalto said. “People who work on behavioral threat assessments are uniquely positioned to spot someone and get them off the pathway to violence before they resort to that.”
UH West O‘ahu Director of Compliance Bev Baligad, who has also served as the Chair of the UH West O‘ahu Behavior Intervention Team since it was implemented in 2017, said she hopes HTAC attendees realize there is still so much to do within this state as far as targeted violence prevention goes.
“It isn’t enough to say, ‘We support or engage in threat assessment and management efforts in the state,’ ” said Baligad, who is also the Chair of Threat Team Hawai‘i. “We need more community members to understand what threat assessment and management efforts are, how it works, and to whom they can report issues that are not considered a crime yet. In other words, we need our communities to be a part of this statewide effort.”
Opportunity for discussions, networking
The conference opened on July 17 with a welcome from UH West O‘ahu Chancellor Maenette Benham.
“This indeed is a brilliant opportunity for generative discussions, a lot of sidebars, and impactful networking,” Benham said. “Mahalo again to each and every one of you for committing to be here. … Please know that I and the many communities, our families, our students that you serve, truly appreciate your commitment.”
HTAC featured presentations by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, Hawai‘i Office of Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs Pacific Islands Health Care System, and Domestic Violence Action Center, among others.
Session topics included “Examples of Prevention and Intervention Work Across the Nation,” “Hawai‘i Connection – A Collaborative Response from Corporate Security and Law Enforcement Using Threat Assessment and Threat Management,” and “Trauma-informed Care: An Effective Approach for Mitigating Inevitable Experiences of Trauma.”
U.S. Rep. Ed Case, another HTAC guest speaker, commended conference goers for the work they are doing.
“Many parts of the country do not have anywhere near as dedicated, as focused, targeted violence assessment and prevention initiatives going on that are funded, that are coordinated, that are resourced, that have committed people dedicated to that,” Case said. “We should be proud of that.”
Congressman Case is a member of the House Appropriations Committee’s Homeland Security Subcommittee. HTAC is funded by grants awarded to UH West O‘ahu’s Baligad, who received two U.S. Department of Homeland Security Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) grants for 2021 and 2022 totaling over $1.3 million to help build Hawaiʻi’s school threat assessment capacity.
“You have a full partner in your Congress,” Case said on behalf of Hawai‘i’s congressional delegation. … “We all very much care about what you’re doing.”
‘Learn from my experience’
Montalto closed the three-day conference on July 19 with a presentation talking about his daughter Gina, giving a brief overview of the Parkland shooting, and sharing the mission and work of Stand with Parkland, which is focused on issues, answers, and families.
The organization promotes an inclusive and non-partisan approach to safer schools using its three pillars of change, or “School Safety Triad,” which consists of enhanced school security, mental health screenings and support, and responsible firearms ownership.
The successes and changes accomplished through Stand with Parkland, Montalto said, include passing four federal laws in the last six years — such as the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — and seeing the seventh post-Parkland school safety law get passed in Florida.
“The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act has Stand with Parkland’s DNA written into it,” Montalto said. “It touches on every part of our School Safety Triad.”
During his presentation, Montalto also shared that Hawai‘i was special to his daughter, a straight-A student and Girl Scout who loved to joke around.
“Gina loved this place,” he said. “She loved snorkeling and paddle boarding down the road in Ko Olina, she loved surfing in Waikīkī. Our last big family vacation was to Hawai‘i.”
As he spoke of her, photos on a big screen showed a beautiful teen with a vibrant smile.
“We all need more kindness, caring, and compassion in this world, and that’s something my wonderful daughter Gina demonstrated every day of her young life,” Montalto said. “We raised her to change the world, and through her legacy, she has.”
Montalto said that is why Stand with Parkland is proud to have partnered with people on both sides of the political aisle, understanding the significance of this work. He emphasized the importance of coming together, connecting, embracing all potential partners, and working as a team to find solutions and protect students and teachers in schools nationwide.
“In closing … please remember, the one thing that all communities in which a school shooting has occurred had in common, that was a shared belief that it couldn’t happen to them,” Montalto said. “Please, learn from my experience. It happened to us and it could happen in your community, too.”