The Recent School Shootings and the Facts | Hannah Musgrave

The Recent School Shootings and the Facts

by Hannah Musgrave

We are only two months into 2018 and already eight school shootings have occurred; that is an average of two shootings a week—an absolutely terrifying statistic.

School shootings:

1. January 20: Winston Salem, North Carolina; a football player was shot to death at a campus party.

2. January 22: Italy, Texas; one wounded student in a high school shooting.

3. January 23: Benton, Kentucky; 16 people shot and 2 killed in a high school shooting.

4. January 31: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; wounding by gun in student parking lot.

5. February 1: Los Angeles, California; 3 students injured and 1 killed at a high school.

6. February 5: Oxon Hill, Maryland; student shot in parking lot.

7. February 9: Nashville, Tennessee; student shot 5 times in parking lot.

8. February 14: Parkland, Florida; killed 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School

Since the beginning of 2018, a mere 2 months ago, there have been 21 students killed by gun while on an educational campus. Small children or young adults, most around the age 15-17, were deprived of the rest of their life because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time, on their school campus.

What’s even scarier is that it keeps growing. Since the Florida school shooting there has been a recent uproar of threats in our San Diego County. Seven threats have been made in the past nine days. The first threat was made a day after the Florida shooting by a student at Torrey Pines High School who displayed his access to firearms on social media and threatened to use them. He was arrested and detained by police and remains under questioning. Although this student was the only one arrested from the seven threats, every time, the instances were thoroughly investigated. “One hundred percent of the time we’re going to take it seriously. You have to,” commented a principal of one of the threatened high schools.

The most recent school shooting threat was yesterday, February 26, at Rancho Bernardo High School. This was done by no specific student, but there was graffiti drawn around the school. Twenty spray-painted threats were found that threatened a shooting and made references to the Florida shooting on Valentine’s Day. Police were called in the morning and guarded the school throughout the day.