Oregon School Shooting Brings Total to 74 Since Sandy Hook Massacre

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Category: Crime

Published on Wednesday, 11 June 2014 09:59

Written by Janet Walker

Freshman Emilio Hoffman was shot and killed when a lone gunman entered Reynolds High School in Troutdale, Oregon, yesterday, and opened fire killing the 14 year old before turning the gun on himself.

The gunman entered the Boy's Locker room outside the gymnasium and at point blank range shot and killed the teenager on the day before summer recess was to begin.  Reynolds high school gym teacher, Todd Rispler was also wounded, and maintained the presence of mind to notify school authorities who ordered an immediate lock down.

The lockdown situation stabilized quickly with first responders on the scene within minutes. Troutdale is, a small suburb, located 16 miles outside of Portland with a tight knit small community of 16,000.

In addition to fire and weather related emergencies drills schools must now include lockdown actions necessary to save lives during school shootings including the sounds of gunfire, which most Troutdale students, jubilant, ready for summer break, thought were firecrackers.

The Troutdale School Shooting brings the total number of school related shootings since December 14 when Adam Lanza shot his way into the Sandy Hook elementary school and systematically executed 20 five and six year old first graders and six educators, to 74. This number doesn't include Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Arapahoe, or the countless others.

The Troutdale School shooting follows the Santa Barbara college shooting that killed seven brought on by teenage rage and mental illness, which is no consolation to the grieving families, friends and community.

The story is all too familiar, which adds to a blasé approach in society and in media coverage as we've heard, tried and hoped for a quick, speedy and effective resolution to gun violence. This, too, is of no consolation.

 Apparently the plague violence, which the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) classify as at epidemic levels, is without cure. No high level research, monies are available to combat this outbreak, that, since December 15, 2011, has reached almost 75 school involved shootings with hundreds dead, many more injured and the world effected. Even mass celebrity appeal to demand a plan for gun control has had little or no effect on gun violence.

Parents are left with shattered lives, students tragically suffer with PTSD, society attempts to move forward, and even the president is left in the bottleneck as congress refuses to implement stricter gun laws.

After the attempted assassination of President Ronald Regan, on March 31, 1981, which left Press Secretary James Brady critically wounded it took 13 years to enact gun laws that created the first real change in the availability of weapons.

All society can hope for is the next troubled teenager, with his sight set on making history or chasing numbers, will be caught before his finger pulls the next trigger.