New Mexico School Shooter Is A 12-Year-Old Boy, A Numb Nation Is Probably Not Even Surprised

119818994A 12-year-old walked into his middle school gym today, pulled out a shotgun and opened fire on fellow students who were waiting for class to start. A 12-year-old boy is in critical condition and a 13-year-old girl is in serious condition in a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, according to New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez.

From CNN:

A staff member at Berrendo Middle School disarmed the student after he “walked right up to him and asked him to put down the firearm,” Martinez said.

“We have a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old who were simply shot in the gym waiting for class, and one is in surgery,” Martinez said, urging prayers for them.

The boy was disarmed when a teacher walked up to him and “asked him to put down the firearm.”

Do you know what I really, really want? To be more surprised and disturbed by these stories. Of course I’m disturbed; it’s disturbing when a child brings a gun to school and shoots his classmates. But I’m not surprised, and that disgusts me.

Last month, I read a story about how people of Iceland were mourning the first man ever to be shot by police.This stuck with me; I couldn’t get the story out of my head for weeks:

“The nation was in shock. This does not happen in our country,” said Thora Arnorsdottir, news editor at the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, to PRI.

The 59-year-old man was shot when he started firing on police who entered his apartment building. Police have apologized to his family, without admitting any wrongdoing.

Gun violence is so rare there, that a nation mourns when someone wielding a gun and firing it at police gets shot. And I’m so conditioned to hear about gun violence in this country that I don’t even flinch when I hear a 12-year-old brought a gun to school and opened fire on his peers.

Something is very, very wrong here.

(photo: Getty Images)

Similar Posts