Nevada School Shooting

http://news.yahoo.com/nev-student-opens-fire-kills-teacher-himself-001840801.html

In more unfortunate news, a student at Sparks Middle School in Reno, Nevada opened fire in school this morning, wounding 2 classmates and killing a teacher before taking his own life.  45 year old Michael Landsberry has been credited with saving lives before losing his.  This incident will immediately bring up thoughts of the Sandy Hook shooting and will no doubt spark gun control debates as well as school safety debates.  I also read in some online comments that this is an example of art imitating life in comparing this shooting to a school shooting on the popular Sons Of Anarchy television show.  While most would agree that this is a stretch, shootings have been blamed on music and video games in the past so the precedent is there.

For more on this sad story, click the link above.

Virgina Tech Redux

On Wednesday, December 7, 2011, 22 year old Ross Truett Ashley walked into his landlord’s office, pulled out a handgun, and demanded the keys to a Mercedes Benz.

On Thursday, December 8, 2011, Ross Ashley walked up to the unmarked patrol car of Virginia Tech Police Officer Deriek Crouse, who was on a traffic stop, and shot him to death. 

Mr. Ashley then ran through the Virginia Tech University campus before ultimately turning his gun on himself and ending his life. 

The campus was placed on lockdown as news quickly spread of a gunman on the loose.  While this would stir a panic at any school or university, the fact that it happened at Virginia Tech further alarmed many people.  On April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech was the scene of the worst school shooting, and the deadliest shooting incident by a lone gunman, in U.S. history.  On that fateful day, 33 people, including the shooter, were killed and 25 others wounded.  Many fault the responding officers’ reaction to the 2007 massacre.  Since then many policies throughout the country have been changed and several books have been written about the events.  Much has been learned about the shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, who was 23 years old when this incident took place. 

Ross Ashley is not as well known.  Although who knows what will be revealed about his character and any potential demons he was battling with, most reports simply say he was a quiet business student at a nearby college.  Other than recently shaving his head and running through his apartment hallways, he was hardly noticed.  It will be interesting (to some) to see what is revealed about this otherwise “normal” appearing young man. 

And while incidents like this happen far too often, the amount of attention being given to this shooting is its location.  As Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said, “It's just unfortunate and almost inexplicable that you could have a series of these events happen in a short four-year period.”

Officer Crouse was married and had 5 children. 

Columbine Fact

Just a quick note I ran across while reading that is important enough to share. 

I am reading a book titled "The truth behind death at columbine" by Brooks Brown and Rob Merritt.  Brooks Brown grew up with Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and was the first person to encounter Eric Harris that morning in the school parking lot.  He is also featured in Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" movie. 

In the book, Mr. Brown recalls the wrath of school shootings that took place in the late 1990's. He said that the incidents were discussed in his various classes at Columbine High School and that,

"kids would make jokes about how "it was going to happen at Columbine next."  They would say that Columbine was absolutely primed for it, because of the bullying and the hate that were so prevalent at our school."

Little did they know how right they were. 

Are Schools Safe?

The Justice Policy Center has stated that "Rather than providing a context, the media's linking of school shootings as a "trend" has tended to exacerbate people's fears about the safety of their children and youth in schools."

The National School Safety Center states that "The constant media attention can easily cause some to believe that schools are entirely unsafe, while a lack of access to information may have some people clueless as to what goes on in schools in this day and age."

When people think of schools and violence, what immediately comes to mind are the tragedies that happened in Littleton, Colorado at Columbine High School, the Virginia Tech Massacre, and the Westside Middle School shooting in Jonesboro, Arkansas.  However, with the exception of the Virgina Tech shooting, the major incidents happened over 10 years ago.  Are schools now safe?

Statistics state that 8 children die every day from gunfire in the United States.  11 children die every 2 days from family violence, child abuse, or neglect at the hands of their parents or guardians.  90% of homicide victims under the age of 12 are killed by adults and not other children. 

The National Center of Vital Statistics reports that "In recent years, homicides of school-age children were more than 200 times more likely to happen off campus."

In 1993 and 1994, 42 homicides in U.S.schools were reported.  In 1999, 25 were reported.  In both 2008 and 2009, 1 homicide was reported each year.