It’s that time of year again— leaves are falling from the trees, every shopping mall has stores with back to school sales, and little kids are excited to see their friends again after being brainwashed by the Peanuts Movie into believing school is fun (although that might’ve just been me).
Right next to that idyllic imagery are 3 gunshot victims from a shooting that occurred near Lawrence High School in Massachusetts during school dismissal on August 31st (CBS).
The Lawrence Shooting
The first thing, to be clear, is that this shooting did not take place on school property; shots came from a property owned by the Lawrence Housing Authority and police conclude it was not a random act of violence (Boston 25 News). However, the Boston Globe did confirm that the victims included teenagers, and all three received medical treatment before being transported to a local hospital (Boston Globe).
A local resident remarked that news of the shooting was surprising because “this neighborhood is really peaceful.” (ABC Affiliate WCVB). The same article includes confirmation from Lawrence City Councilor Marc Laplante that the youngest victim has the most serious injuries out of the three.
Although this is not necessarily a “school shooting” in the literal sense, the most affected victims are students.
Video footage of the shooting (The Valley Patriot) “showed a large group of people gathered around what appeared to be several people engaged in a fight” (WCVB), which led to the gunfire breaking out. The aforementioned local resident further describes what he saw during the incident: “there were kids running…there was a kid on the ground because he got shot…one kid, I think, was unconscious...they were giving him CPR.”
A search is ongoing for the suspect and the FBI and Massachusetts State Police are currently assisting the Lawrence Police Department (NBC Boston).