Shooting at Maryland school leaves two students injured
The panic returned last Tuesday to a school in the United States. One person opened fire at the Great Mills High School in the State of Maryland and injured two students. The attacker was killed two hours after the shooting by bullet shots he had received from an officer at the school, authorities announced. The two injured are a woman who is in a critical situation and a man in a stable condition.
For now, many details of the shooting are unknown, which comes in full national introspection about safety in schools after 17 people died in February at a High School in Florida. Since then, galvanized by the anger of the students, the voices that demand hardening access to weapons grow, but President Donald Trump, as approved by the Florida Congress, is committed to arm a group of teachers so they can respond to a hypothetical shooting. That proposal has the backing of the powerful arms lobby but has been harshly criticized by the main educational associations.
The Great Mills school, in the county of Sant Mary, is located about 110 kilometers from Washington and has about 1,600 students. The students were evacuated to a nearby campus, where they met with their parents.
The shooting began around 8 am local time, according to The Baltimore Sun newspaper. One student, Terrence Rhames, 18, explained to the newspaper that he heard a gunshot and saw a girl fall to the ground while she ran desperately. "I simply thank God that I am safe," he said.
"It happened very quickly, shortly after the classes started," Jonathan Freese, a high school student, told CNN. "The police have arrived and they have responded really fast, there were a lot of agents."
On average, 93 people die each day from armed violence in the United States, according to the Brady Campaign, which advocates greater control. It is estimated that on average there are nine private weapons for every ten citizens. It is the highest proportion in the world. The US Constitution protects the use of firearms, which many, backed mainly by Republican politicians, consider part of the national DNA.
The shooting at Parkland High School (Florida) on February 14 opened a debate in the US about school safety fueled by student anger. Parkland students have called for tougher access to firearms, such as the military rifle that was shot by Nikolas Cruz, 19, and they have organized a big march in Washington against armed violence next Saturday.