Three School Shootings in Two Days

[Content Note: Guns; shooting; injury; death.]

Yesterday, in Texas, there was a school shooting in which a 15-year-old girl was shot by a 16-year-old boy who had "a history of aggressive actions at school."

Cassie Shook, a 17-year-old junior at the school, told The Associated Press that she was driving up to the building when she saw "the doors fly open and everyone screaming and running out of the building." She said she was angry when she learned who the suspect was because she'd complained about the boy at least twice to school officials, including to a vice principal.

"This could have been avoidable," she said. "There were so many signs."

It was also avoidable if he hadn't had access to guns, but we're not supposed to talk about that.

Also yesterday, in Louisiana, there was a very strange shooting incident at a high school in New Orleans: "Police Chief Michael Harrison told reporters shots were believed to have been fired from a dark pickup truck outside the NET Charter High School. The campus was locked down immediately afterward but students were later released. The injured student was among a group outside the building at lunch time. Harrison says investigators found another student in that group had gunpowder residue on his hands. Another student — not part of that group — was found possessing live ammunition, according to authorities. Their role, if any, in the shooting, was unclear."

Today, in Kentucky, a 15-year-old opened fire with a handgun, killing two and wounding 12 others: "A shooting at Marshall County High School in Western Kentucky killed a 15-year old boy and a 15-year-old girl and wounded 12 others, according to Kentucky State Police. Five more were treated for injuries, but they were not shot, Gov. Matt Bevin and police said. All of the victims are believed to be students. The suspect is a 15-year-old boy who was apprehended at the school by a deputy. The boy will be charged with murder and attempted murder, police said."

My sympathies to those who were injured and to the loved ones of those who were killed. I am so sorry.

I am also sorry, for all of us, that stories of school shootings have become so routine that they barely make a comparative blip in the news anymore. If that were the result of a deliberate, thoughtful decision made in order to stop rewarding mass killers with infamy, that would be okay. But that's not why these shootings are being largely ignored. They are being ignored because there weren't enough victims.

And I don't even know how to begin processing that.