Another School Shooting

Allie_XO · #1 03-05-2001, 04:22 PM

Say a prayer. At least two children lost thier lives today at another school shooting. A student in Santee, California shot and killed two of his classmates and wounded 13 others.

I hope that all the witnesses and wounded are able to recover. I pray for the killed. And I pray for the killer - his soul is stained.

HeidiHo · #2 03-05-2001, 05:19 PM

Serenity · #3 03-05-2001, 05:29 PM

What really disturbs me is the fact that this young man told friends that he was going to do this. Reportedly, he even asked them to join him. One of his friends was interviewed on CNN and said he feels terribly that someone lost their life and he could have prevented it. (There was only one reported death at the time) He went on to say that they thought this young man (shooter) was just joking. Supposedly he (shooter) was pat down by another friend before entering the school, just in case. Little did he know that the gun was hidden in the young man's backpack.

As a teacher, this "epidemic" scares the beejeebies out of me.

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Sigma Lambda Upsilon: Sincerity, Loyalty, Unity http://www.sigmalambdaupsilon.org

SoCalGirl · #4 03-06-2001, 12:13 AM

This is just 20 minutes from where I live!

I'll be sure to keep everyone updated if any new info is discovered.

Hootie · #5 03-06-2001, 01:50 AM

How old was the kid?

StaC · #6 03-06-2001, 03:23 AM

According to CNN.com, the shooter was a
15-year old freshman at the school.

amycat412 · #7 03-06-2001, 04:17 AM

What I don't understand is why this is so prevalent today. What happened over the last several years to make school an unsafe place. I know I sound naive, but this didn't go on when I was in high school and I don't get it.

I pray for the families of the victims and the killer, that they may remember the love and good times in the midst of this tragedy.

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"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." - Eleanor Roosevelt

gphi2k · #8 03-06-2001, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by amycat412:
What I don't understand is why this is so prevalent today. What happened over the last several years to make school an unsafe place. I know I sound naive, but this didn't go on when I was in high school and I don't get it.

Really, I think it's SICK. The kid was picked on. I was picked on. Hell, every 13, 14, or 15 year old kid was picked on. These messed up kids see one movie that inspires them, or news footage of events like columbine and get ideas in their warped unbalanced heads, and just go with it.

This is why I HATE the media sometimes. Because they don't realize (or maybe they do) that they perpetuate the problem. Kids who are picked on and have chemical imbalances see the news footage and get angrier and angrier and see examples like this that predominate the images they see on the news at night, and see that as a possible outlet for their own anger as well. It is so naive of the media to cover these stories to the extent they do. yes, i am aware that news is news and that stories like this are imporant for people to hear. Perhaps this event, this particular one, might be inspiration enough for change in the schools.

But you know what, it's not. This messed up kid went to friends and told them what he was intending to do. They thought he was kidding. DING DONG. HELLO??? ANYONE HOME??? people don't joke about things like that. And in the wake of columbine, the fact that these kids, not one of them (cause my understanding that there were a few) went to a teacher to warn them, makes me ill. one of the kids said on t.v. last night that he felt kind of guilty because not only did the shooter tell this student what he was planning, but he went so far as to invite him to join him on his shooting rampage. Well, there's blood on his hands, he should feel guilty. I'm sorry if i'm sounding harsh but children died because 15 and 16 year olds, old enough to have developed some monicum of cognitive ability didn't think it odd or worthy of warning that a friend of theirs talked about opening fire on the students and teachers of that school.
I watch the news during times like these and am so sad and so scared for our children...

Leslie

[This message has been edited by gphi2k (edited March 06, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by gphi2k (edited March 06, 2001).]

Billy Optimist · #9 03-06-2001, 12:53 PM

Statistically speaking, school violence is down. But the incidents that hapen are more violent. The kid was patted down?! That shows that they knew he was serious. This is just sad

Allie_XO · #10 03-06-2001, 06:12 PM

I don't think we should lay blame on any one entity. The media, the school, the parents, etc... How can anyone say that one thing started this?

I blame us. You and me. Each and everyone person in the USA and beyond has a part in this. Gphi2k says that every kid is picked on, but why? I bet that every person has also picked on someone else! If we could learn to live and let live, recognize and understand people's differences... If we could recognize and treat mental problems, rather than call people crazy... But those are BIG 'ifs.'

And sometimes people are just born rotten (IMO). Most of the time however, we should help people get through things, when all we really do is hurt. Then something like this happens and we all swell up with piety and say that "the media" or "video games" or "music" or "McDonalds" or "ritalin" is to blame. This should be a reminder that our actions do effect others.

Well, I have seen the enemy, and he is us.

SuperXO · #11 03-06-2001, 08:33 PM

Hear, hear, Allie!

SoCalGirl · #12 03-06-2001, 11:06 PM

Charles "Andy" Williams--15 yr old freshman

At last count he had told at least 20 people. Including an adult. None took him seriously enough to notify authorities.

I don't know if any of you have seen pictures of him. But all day, I kept hearing at work "I can't believe what the scrawny little boy did." He barely looks 12 yrs old.

That little boy shot 13 and murdered 2. There were so many wounded, that authorities were writing numbers on victims heads with a marker so that they would not lose count.

But he WILL be tried as an adult. San Diego is the most conservative city in the state. Any one who feels that he should be tried as a juvenile will not get very far with their arguement.

The carnage was caught on film and video by a photography class that was nearby. Instead of fleeing for their lives they grabbed cameras.

The equipment was confiscated and will no doubt be used by prosecutors.

For now the school and the community needs to start healing. I know everyone will be praying for them.

AKA_Monet · #13 03-06-2001, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SoCalGirl:
This is just 20 minutes from where I live!

I'll be sure to keep everyone updated if any new info is discovered.

It's just over the hill from my parents house...

Alumnus who cares · #14 03-06-2001, 11:48 PM

One of the kid's friends patted him down before he went into the school? And then what...the friend just "forgot" to look in the kid's backpack? Moron.

Hootie · #15 03-07-2001, 02:25 AM

Along the lines of what amycat412 said, these things ARE more prevelant now than they were in our glory days of high school.
When I was a Freshman the only thing that I can remember happening at my high school that was scary as hell, was a bomb threat. The thing that made it scarier was it was a couple days AFTER the Oklahoma City Bombing. We had three total bomb threats that semester!
But after the Columbine insident my former high school tightened security and took steps to try to prevent incidents like this (shootings) from happening.
It's a scary, scary world out there now. I'm already afraid for my unborn children. It's so sad to think that we used to be sent to school by our mothers, thinking that was the second safest place, next to our homes. Now it's just as unsafe as an unlit alley.
Very, very sad