Expand your view of school shootings,’ but prepare to be alarmed

The recent shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis was nothing like the 2021 Oxford High School shooting in Michigan.

-  Mary Sanchez 

In the former, the parents of the teenage school shooter did everything

right, unlike the latter. They sought mental health treatment for their son — 19-year old Orlando Harris — and fearing his potential for violence, had his legally acquired gun confiscated.

St. Louis was also no Sandy Hook. When the recent graduate forced his way into his for

mer high school, his rampage was slowed by locked doors. He also had to avoid the area where seven security guards were stationed.

St. Louis was no Columbine. School and outside law enforcement reacted quickly,

arriving within minutes as alarms sounded. One officer followed the smell of gunpowder and confronted the young man. She shot him before he could take any more lives, including hers.

St. Louis was no Uvalde. Many teachers and students didn’t perish in the shoot

ing. Yet still, a beloved, dedicated teacher and a vibrant student on the cusp of her Sweet 16th birthday died. Seven others were wounded, and a whole community traumatized. A family has lost their son to what should be understood as a young man’s suicide that violently claimed two additional lives.

Exactly one day after the shooting, a report was published that included a key understanding America would be wise to internalize.

This most recent case illustrates several stark truths about firearms and schools.

These are inconvenient truths, expunged because of political posturing and the tunnel-vision perspectives between urban vs. rural views on guns. And if they are not erased, they are simply misunderstood.