Earlier today Reuters reported another school shooting. This one took place in California where one student open fired and critically wounded another student. Luckily two staff members were able to talk the boy into giving up his weapon before seriously hurting anyone else. He has been arrested.
A month has not passed since the bloodbath at Sandy Hook Elementary School where 20 children and six adults were killed. That particular shooting in Connecticut triggered a renewed debate on gun control.
I live in Canada where there is gun control. Ordinary citizens do not have guns or want them. Still the criminals will always get them and unfortunately some mentally ill people with gun permits can get them as well. I do not believe in fighting fire with fire. I do not agree with a gun culture. I value my Canadian government’s approach to the subject of citizens with guns.
The latest shooting unfolded Thursday morning at Taft Union High School in the Kern County town of Taft, about 30 miles southwest of Bakersfield and about 100 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.”
Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood reported that one student was airlifted to the nearby hospital for treatment while another student fell over a table trying to run out of the classroom. The first was student was critically wounded while the second student suffered minor injuries. A third student was complaining of hearing loss after the shooting and was also taken to the hospital.
It appears that the 16-year-old shooter had a disagreement with the student who was critically injured and so he shot him. The deputies secured the building while students waited outside. Parents came by car to pick up their children.
What a pity that an argument could lead to gun shots. What happened to talking things through? I feel the schools should have more conflict management courses distressing the need for armed violence.
School shootings in California which were reported in SFGate
On July 12, 1976, Edward Charles Allaway, a 37-year-old custodian working for California State University, killed seven people in the library. “He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a state mental hospital.”
Brenda Ann Spencer a 16-year-old female “fired several rifle shots at a San Diego elementary school from her home across the street, killing the principal and a custodian and wounding eight children. She later said she fired the shots because, “I don’t like Mondays,” which inspired the Boomtown Rats song by the same name. She was convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life. She has been denied parole four times.”
“Gunman Patrick Purdy opened fire with an AK 47 assault rifle on the playground of Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, Calif., on Jan. 17, 1989. Five school children were killed and 30 others injured before Purdy took his own life.”
Eric Houston a former student of Lindhurst High School in Olivehurst used a 12-gauge shotgun and a rifle, to kill a teacher and three students. He also wounded 10 others. He surrendered to the police and is now on Death Row at San Quentin State Prison. This shooting happened on May 1, 1992.
These shootings were committed by students, custodians, and drifters. These deadly acts occurred on school property and from a window across the street. Some of the shooters were deemed insane while others either killed themselves or are serving time in prison. We have yet to find out what will happen to the teenage shooter at Taft Union High School.
Although forensic psychologists try to profile the school shooters, I feel that no one can predict these things. But parents, teachers and the community at large can help by identifying problem students so that they can get help before something like this ever happens again.
