School Shootings

On November 14th 2019 at approximately 7:30 in the morning a 16 year old student at Saugus High School in southern California shot five students and then himself.  He then turned the gun on himself. It was his 16th birthday.  

It is too early in the investigation to know too much about the why of this incident.  I am not even going to try and guess to the motive of the shooter. Let’s look at what we do know.

The shooter, a student, entered the school.  There is surveillance video of him pulling a handgun out of a backpack and shooting five students, and then himself.  As of this writing news reports state two students have died and so has the shooter.

CBS news reports that off duty first responders saved lives.  A detective, who was not working, and had just dropped a family member off a school, saw students running from the building and went in to help.  He was able to provide first-aid to victims. Other first responders followed shortly there after. EMS followed and provided the best care possible for all of the victims.

A student, interviewed on a national media outlet said that the school had practiced their Emergency Action Plan once before.  But he also said that when he heard the gunshots he forgot what todo.

What followed is a nightmare for all of the parents involved.  Not knowing about your child. The feeling must be excruciating.  Not knowing is always difficult in any situation. Parents want immediate information on their children, which I can completely understand.  There are reunification process in place which are designed to protect against further harm. Although not quick, they are effective.

What some of the public don’t take into consideration is that even though the initial event might be over, there is still a criminal investigation that needs to occur.  It will focus on answering multiple questions such as: are there others involved, are there other targets, what is the motive, and how might this have been prevented.

There are some questions as to whether or not social media played a part in this incident.