Illinois lawmakers form school shootings task force

Illinois lawmakers will work with mental health professionals to look for ways to help mentally ill children in the hopes of preventing school shootings.

House Speaker Michael Madigan announced a violence-prevention task force last week. The bipartisan panel’s first meeting is Monday in Chicago.

The task force follows a report that showed educators and mental health professionals missed opportunities to treat 20-year-old Adam Lanza before he shot and killed 26 children and educators at a Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. Lanza also shot and killed himself.

The Illinois task force will study the report from Connecticut’s Office of the Child Advocate to determine what steps local officials might take to prevent a similar tragedy.