Saturday, May 19, 2018

This Must S T O P ! ! !

This is May 19 of 2018.  So far, in this calendar year, more people have been killed in schools on American soil than Americans have been killed in combat around the world.  That is a shocking and heart-breaking TRUTH.  No matter what the current President of the United States claims, this is not "fake news."  And the hurt to our country cannot be healed by "thoughts and prayers."
   Yesterday, a 17-year-old boy went to school wearing a black trench coat and a T-shirt that had "Born to Kill" printed on it and carrying a duffle bag..  He was armed with his father's shotgun and .38 caliber handgun, and he had also made several explosive devices - pipe bombs, a Molotov cocktail, and a couple of pressure-cooker-type bombs.  He pulled the Fire Alarm, and then yelled, "Surprise!" as he opened the door to an art room and opened fire.
   Ten people are known to be dead, and ten more were wounded.  Three of the people wounded were in critical condition in hospitals late last night.  One of them is the Santa Fe High School resource officer, a retired detective named John Barnes.  He took a shot in his arm that apparently severed an artery.  He is hanging on to life.   One young man, Rome Shubert, is lucky to be alive - the gunman shot him in the head, but he was giving interviews this afternoon.
   I have the names of nine of the ten people who did not survive the attack.  Two were adults, a substitute teacher and the teacher's aide in the art class where the shooting began...  The adults are Ann Perkins, the substitute teacher; and Cynthia Tisdale, the teacher's aide.  One of the students killed was a Pakistani exchange student, Sabika Sheikh.  The other students who have been identified are: Chris Stone, Shana Fisher, Christian "Riley" Garcia, Angelique Ramirez, Kim Jessica Vaughn, and Kyle McLeodAddendum: Jared Black is the name of the tenth victim; he, too, was a student at Santa Fe High School.
  The killing of students, teachers, coaches, mentors, and others on school campuses must STOP.

Over the 20 weeks of this  year, there have been 18 school shootings in the United States where someone has been hurt or killed. All but one of the suspected shooters have been male.  This is a list of school shootings in 2018 that meet the following four criteria: (1) at least one person was shot; (2) it happened on school grounds; (3) it included kindergarten through high school; and (4) it involved a firearm.   -  This list goes backward in time.
  18 May 2018 -   Santa Fe High School     Santa Fe, Texas
       10 dead, 10 wounded            17-year-old surrendered

  11 May 2018 -    Highland High School      Palmdale, California
       1 wounded                             14-year-old  charged with attempted murder

  20 April 2018 -    Forest High School      Ocala, Florida
       1 injured                                 19-year-old shot classroom door with shotgun

  12 April 2018 -     Raytown South Middle School        Raytown, Missouri
        1 wounded                             Man shot in stomach during track meet in school parking lot

 20 March 2018 -     Great Mills High School         Lexington Park, Maryland
        2 dead, 1 wounded                 Student shot two other students, then fatally shot by school officer

 13 March 2018 -       Seaside High School         Seaside, California
      1 wounded, 2 injured            Teacher fired a gun into the ceiling; ricochet fragments struck student

 7 March 2018 -       Huffman High School        Birmingham, Alabama
     1 dead, 1 wounded                                19-year-old charged with attempted murder

 20 February 2018 -      Jackson Middle School         Massillon, Ohio
      1 dead                                        13-year-old committed suicide; reportedly had plans to kill others

 14 February 2018 -      Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School     Parkland, Florida
      17 dead, 14 wounded                 19-year-old expelled student

  9 February 2018 -      Pearl-Cohn High School            Nashville, Tennessee
     1 wounded                                   Student shot five times in parking lot

 5 February 2018 -      Oxon Hill High School           Prince George's County, Maryland
     1 wounded                                   Two students charged with attempted murder

 1 February 2018 -      Salvador Castro Middle School        Los Angeles, California
     5 injured                                       12-year-old girl "accidentally" discharged firearm in class

 31 January 2018 -      Lincoln High School            Mayfair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
      1 dead                                        32-year-old man shot in parking lot after a fight

 23 January 2018 -      Marshall County High School        Benton, Kentucky
      2 dead, 17 wounded                    15-year-old student charged

 22 January 2018 -      NET Charter High School         New Orleans, Louisiana
      1 wounded                                   Drive-by shooting into a school parking lot

 22 January 2018 -      Italy High School         Italy, Texas
      1 wounded                                    16-year-old opened fire in school cafeteria

 9 January 2018 -       Coronado Elementary School          Sierra Vista, Arizona
     1 killed                                           14-year-old committed suicide in bathroom

 3 January 2018 -      East Olive Elementary School          St. John, Michigan
    1 killed                                           31-year-old man committed suicide in parking lot

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