A peaceful Oak Creek Sikh Temple, a busy Tucson supermarket, a jam-packed Colorado movie theater. Virginia Tech. Columbine. Several other locations throughout the U.S. have been subject to mass-public shootings that have become infamous in our nation.
In America, on average, there are 20 shootings a year and the number of killed and injured victims continues to rise. Possibly the most troubling similarity in many of the recent shootings is that they have taken place is areas that are supposed to be safe havens: schools, places of worship, and movie theaters. Now they might be seen as targets for gunmen. However, mass shootings are not a new topic surfacing in the world today.
One of the nation’s first recorded mass-murders occurred in 1949 by Howard Unruh in his hometown of Camden, New Jersey, killed 13 people in his neighborhood before being shot and arrested by police officers. As years have gone by, numerous teens and adults have taken the lives of complete strangers and friends.
“Each story has it’s own set of facts,” says Mayor Greg Stanton, “the issue is heartbreaking.”
On Apr. 20, 1999, two Boulder, Colo. high school seniors killed 15 victims including themselves, and left over 20 injured. A study later showed that the gunmen were not mentally unstable nor where they bullied; in fact, they were excelling students who did not have a motive other than possible high school bullying. In a journal, owned by one of the gunmen, later found by police, the boys wrote about their racist beliefs.
The weapons, used, were acquired illegally from an unlicensed seller, and later given to them by a Mark Manes for $500. This incident at Columbine is regarded as one of the most known shootings by teens to date, and the staff at Perry is very aware that violent attacks can happen anywhere, and at any time.
“[Recent public shootings] are concerning,” Principal Dan Serrano states, “it puts thoughts into the minds of our kids [that shouldn’t be there].”
To ensure safety, Serrano holds four lockdowns a year: two of them announced, two unannounced.
“[I]t ensures the safety of the students, if there were to be a real emergency.”
Fast (Moving) forward to 2007, Seung-Hui Cho, a college student, opened fire at Virginia Tech. Cho killed 32 and wounded 15 before ending his own life. Lining up the students execution style, Cho killed students from building to building. The shootings took place in waves, one at 7:15 a.m. and then two and a half hours later. His mental health records stated that he was treated for anxiety disorder in the past along with suicidal thoughts. Police later acquired information that made no sense of why Cho opened fire. Cho was not a student nor had he ever been a student that attended Virginia Tech.
On Jan. 8, 2011, in the attempted assassination of Ariz. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Jared Loughner shot 19 people including Giffords, when Giffords was in Tucson to give a speech at a local Safeway. When Loughner was finally in custody, it was decided that he was mentally unstable and unfit for a trial. It was determined by police that this was a planned shooting and not just bad luck. Loughner bought the gun Nov. 30, 2010, never having an intention to shoot that day in Tucson. Loughner approached Giffords at 10:10 a.m. and opened firing. In result, he killed six and injured 13.
Earlier this year, events in Aurora left the city under a dark cloud. On July 20, 2012, James Holmes opened fire in a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises. Holmes killed 12 and wounded 59 others. After Holmes was found, in his car, and arrested, the busy task of labeling him as sane began. Before the shooting, the psychiatrist Holmes was seeing at the University of Colorado received a notebook, which was considered notable evidence. The investigators assigned to the case will set the focus of the case on the notebook, indicating that this could have been a clue to avoid the shooting. Holmes is facing charges of murder and attempted murder and is not expected to enter the plea until November.