Trigger Warning: Gun Mishandling, School Shooting, Death and Violence

As of recently, there have been two shootings in the United States, first was the one in Buffalo New York where an 18-year-old white supremacist went into a supermarket and killed ten African Americans and left three injured, there was also a school shooting at Rob Elementary School in Uvalde Texas where another 18-year-old boy took 19 innocent children’s lives along with two teachers who had the bravery to try and save those kids lives. When things like this happen it leaves you shook and there are people who think “this could never happen to me” and that’s what I thought until there was a threat of a school shooting at Tahoma High School after a kid posted online a picture of a handgun and had the words “kill” and “Tahoma” in the post. There are so many questions many students have about this nationwide issue like why are we still on the topics of abortion and women’s rights when there are children being killed in cold blood? How do schools and the government expect us to feel safe when our lives are at risk when we leave our homes? How many more people have to die before it is realized that serious action needs to be taken? 

According to the news and other resources about the shooting in New York, The gunman opened fire at around 2:30 p.m. Saturday outside Tops Friendly Market, a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood in western New York city. The gunman began shooting in the parking lot. Inside, he exchanged gunfire with a security guard, who was killed, as he stalked through the aisles shooting shoppers. At one point, the video shows, he aimed at a white person hiding behind a checkout counter but said “Sorry!” and didn’t shoot. The people who passed included Heyward Patterson, 67, a church deacon who was at Tops to give rides to shoppers who needed them, and Ruth Whitfield, 86, who had just come from her daily visit to her husband in his nursing home. Andre Mackneil, 53, was picking up a cake for a child’s birthday. Katherine Massey, 72, was “a beautiful soul” who was killed while shopping, sister Barbara Massey said. The others killed in the shooting were Margus D. Morrison, 52, Geraldine Talley, 62, and Pearl Young, 77. The injured included three people who worked at Tops: Zaire Goodman, 20, Jennifer Warrington, 50, and Christopher Braden, 55. Most of these people were just living their lives and weren’t expecting that they were going to die and as of right now the man who did this was arraigned in court and reportedly remanded without bail and due back in court. 

As of the school shooting in Texas, the 18-year-old gunman, who has been identified by officials, had shared his plans on Facebook about 30 minutes before reaching the school, He shot his grandmother in the face before heading to the elementary school. The 66-year-old grandmother made it to a nearby home and called the police, Minutes before his deadly assault at the school, the gunman allegedly sent a series of chilling text messages to a girl in Germany he met online, saying he had just shot his grandmother and was going to “shoot up an elementary school. “The gunman drove his grandmother’s vehicle about 0.29 miles, a block and a half away from Robb Elementary School. “He crashed the vehicle at that point in time. He exited with a backpack, took a rifle with him” and went to the west side of the campus. He shot a killed 19 students and two teachers. There was a child who lived who had said the shooter said to them when he came in “it’s time to die”. The suspect was shot and killed on the scene.

When I woke up today, I was getting ready for school when a friend texted me on Snapchat and asked if I was going to school, I said yes and thought nothing of it not knowing about the threat at first until I got to school, and it looked to me like there was barely half of the school there. Once I got to class my friend showed me the threat and there was an email sent to families and teachers by Aj Garcia, basically saying “Dear Tahoma Family, the district Facebook account received a series of threatening messages late Saturday night from what we currently believe is a spam account. The messages included the words “kill you” and “going to Tahoma” along with a stock photo of a person holding a handgun. King Co. Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating. Additionally, there will be an increased police presence patrolling campuses throughout the day Tuesday and the remainder of the school year when resources are available. We are not currently planning to close school or alter our school schedule. We do understand that families may be uncomfortable sending their students to school on Tuesday, and all absences for that reason will be excused.” I know specifically, my parents were worried about it and decided to keep me home as well as some other parents. Some people I know decided that this was not that serious and were making jokes but the reality we have to face is this is a serious matter and is something that could actually happen, and we should take it seriously and stay reminded of the safety precautions.

There have been many speeches made and our leaders seem unable to find solutions, although we know many are working on it at different levels, including Connecticut’s U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, who has led legislative initiatives to reach compromise on gun control. Mass shootings have shocked the United States (US). It implies an incident involving four or more victims due to firearm-related injuries. Despite not being a new phenomenon, they have been occurring throughout the nation since the 1900s. It was also reported that the firearm homicide rate in the United States is 20 times higher than in other countries. Mass shootings receive the media’s extensive and widespread attention, allowing public discourse to flow through and there are celebrities and other people who make a goal to let people know that we need change by posting information on the things that are going on and places that you can donate to help change things. 

For example, poet and activist Amanda Gorman shares multiple inspirational writings recently that I would like to share, “schools scared to death. The truth is, one education under desks, stooped low from bullets; that plunge when we ask where our children shall live and how and if. It takes a monster to kill children, but to watch monsters kill children again and again and do nothing isn’t just insanity-it’s inhumanity. The truth is one nation under guns. What might we be if only we tried? What might we become if only we’d listen.” You don’t have to be a celebrity or a politician to make a difference. Even we teenagers have a voice we just have to use it and make ourselves be heard. If you are tired of this then do something about it because we deserve to be able to feel safe when we walk into our schools or into the grocery store. You deserve to be able to live your life without being scared that it will be taken from you any day at any given moment. We deserve peace.

In conclusion, there have been 27 school shootings just this year and I believe that there needs to be a change because the simple fact is we are not safe, and we won’t face until action is taken because the fact that an 18-year-old’s definition of a birthday present is an assault rifle or the fact that they can even get one is terrifying to me and I would like to think I’m not the only one. I’m not saying you have to do something big to make a difference there are people who donate you could do that, you could write about it, or just do anything to make your voice be heard because your life matters, and who better to try to protect than yourself. I want to leave you with this “May we not just grieve but give: May we not just ache but act;” – Amanda Gorman 

Sources: Buffalo supermarket shooting: What do we know so far? – ABC News (go.com)

Link to a poem by Amanda Gorman: Opinion | Amanda Gorman Poem: Hymn for the Hurting – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

May 25 Texas shooting news (cnn.com)