Contributing Writers: Juan Flores & Kristen Rinaldi
On Monday Oct. 21 a student at Sparks Middle School in Sparks, Nevada opened fire on school grounds shooting one boy in the shoulder and another student in the stomach. After the first student was shot, math teacher Mike Landsberry went up to the shooter to try to protect students and giving them time to get away from the area.
The suspect according to CNN.com was also killed but the authorities are not releasing the name of the suspect yet. After he injured two students and killed one teacher, the suspect shot himself with his pistol. The handgun that was used is believed to belong to the suspect’s parents but it is not confirmed.
Kyle Nucum, 13, an eighth grader who attends the middle school was playing basketball outside while the shooting occurred. He told the Reno Gazette-Journal, “We heard a pop, like a loud pop, and everybody was screaming and the teacher came to investigate. I thought it was a firecracker at first, but the student was pointing a gun at the teacher after the teacher told him to put it down, and the student fired a shot at the teacher and the teacher fell and everybody ran away.”
It is still unknown the motive of the shooting but according to Nucum the suspect was shouting, “Why are you laughing at me? Why are you doing this to me?” Another peer of the suspect Amaya Newton told CNN “he was a really nice kid” but she saw him get bullied at times.
The two unidentified victims that were wounded were rushed straight to Renown Regional Medical Center where one of the victims underwent surgery.
This event almost marks the anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut that left America shaken by the death of 26 people. Now schools are taking security and self defense more seriously to try to make school safer for children and the teachers.
Bloomsburg University student Jess Orlando said“I think that’s awful I don’t understand how a child got into the school with a gun. They should take different security precautions to prevent this from happening. Having younger siblings makes me nervous for their safety.”
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