11 school shootings happen in 25 days

Malea Biswell, writer|January 26, 2018

As sad as it is to say, America is the home of school shootings. There have been 11 school shootings in the first 25 days of 2018.

  • The 1st of 2018 was at East Olive Elementary School in Michigan.
  • The 2nd was at New Start High School in Washington.
  • The 3rd was on a school bus in Iowa
  • The 4th was at Cornorado Elementary School in Arizona.
  • The 5th was at California State University in California.
  • The 6th was on the same day as the 5th at Grayson College in Texas.
  • The 7th was at Weiley College in Texas.
  • The 8th was at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.
  • The 9th was at NET Charter High School in Louisiana.
  • The 10th was on the same day at Italy High school in Texas.
  • Finally, the 11th was at Marshall County High School in Kentucky.

It’s important to note there have only been 15 school days this year, not including possible snow days.

As a student myself, I felt it was important to share my opinions and some of the facts from the situation.

On Jan. 23, Marshall County High School in Benton, Ky., became the most recent school in the U.S. to have a deadly school shooting. Two 15-year-old students, Bailey Holt and Preston Cope, passed away during the chaos. Seventeen other students were injured. According to Holt’s mother, Secret Holt, Bailey called her parents during the shooting, after she had been shot. Holt’s parents say she was dying while on the phone with them. Holt passed away at the scene.

In a report by CNN, Hol’ts mother recalled her daughter couldn’t speak during the phone conversation. Holt says she kept calling her daughter’s name over and over but she didn’t get a response.  Holt’s father said his daughter was a perfect angel who would never do any harm to anyone.

The other victim, Preston Cope, was airlifted to a hospital in Nashville, and died there. He was described as a big fan of the Cardinals and a talented baseball player.

The shooter was 15-year-old Gabe Parker. He walked into the school at 7:57 a.m. and opened fire with a handgun. As of Jan 25, Parker has been charged with two counts of murder and 12 counts assault of the first degree, and he will be charged as an adult. This is because 14 students were actually shot, the other 5 were injured while fleeing the scene.

Students reported that the shots were repetitive, and the school fell almost silent at first as everyone just began running. Students scrambled away and many dropped their bags in order to run faster.

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What has happened this week in Kentucky is atrocious and my heart goes out to everyone in that community.

Students said they could see students dropping their bags and start running, pushing past each other. Everyone in cars started turning around and driving away. Kids were jumping the fence around the school and running through the woods.

There have been 50 school shootings this academic school year. Fifty is way too many for six months.

This is not okay. American students, who have not yet lived even a quarter of their lives have either died or been injured at school. They’ve been literally traumatized for the rest of their lives and scarred with the memories of someone invading their school and shooting them.

School is supposed to be one of the safest places we can be. A lot of students spend more time at school than they do their own homes. Parents every day send their children to school expecting them to be able to learn safely.

Until there are stronger gun laws in America, this won’t stop. Parents will continue to lose their children to senseless violence and kids will continue to hear the sounds of gunshots in their dreams.

I hate that this is how things are now, and I hate that more people are going to have to die before anything gets done. Eleven shootings in 25 days isn’t enough for our government, apparently. What has happened this week in Kentucky is atrocious and my heart goes out to everyone in that community.

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