Northern Arizona University is 144th School Shooting Since Sandy Hook, At Least the 47th School Shooting this Year
PHOENIX, Ariz.— In response to reports of today’s early morning shooting at Northern Arizona University’s Flagstaff campus in which a freshman fatally shot one person and injured three others near a dormitory, the Arizona chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and the Everytown Survivor Network, both a part of Everytown for Gun Safety, released the following statements. There have been at least 47 school shootings in America this year and at least 144 school shootings since the tragedy at Sandy Hook.
Just this week, Everytown for Gun Safety released a new interactive school shootings index that maps each school shooting since 2013.
STATEMENT FROM MARY REED, TUCSON SHOOTING SURVIVOR:
“My prayers are with the Northern Arizona University community today. I survived the 2011 shooting in Tucson where six innocent lives were taken. I was shot three times protecting my daughter with my body. She is now a college student, and my son is a high school senior applying to NAU. I will not accept the state of gun violence in this country—especially on our college campuses. While we don’t yet know all the details about what happened in Flagstaff, it appears the shooting took place by the dorms on campus. My daughter’s dorm is her home, not a place where she seeks refuge from a gunman. We can barely make it a week in this country without news of yet another school shooting. I know there is not a single solution that will stop all gun violence, but there is a lot more we can do to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. I am a responsible gun owner and I stand with the majority of Americans who say we need our leaders to help reduce gun violence by passing common-sense laws.”
STATEMENT FROM GENEVA HABER, VOLUNTEER WITH THE ARIZONA CHAPTER OF MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA:
“Our thoughts are with the students, faculty and families affected by the shooting that occurred early this morning in Flagstaff. Although details are still unfolding, we know that this is at least the 144th school shooting since the tragedy at Sandy Hook—and at least the 47th in 2015 alone. As a mother, I already worry about sending my child off to college and now, given the appalling state of gun violence in this country, I also worry about potential campus shootings. I know that for myself and for moms across Arizona, we will stop at nothing until our leaders in Congress and in our statehouses across the country take meaningful action to reduce gun violence. There is much more we can do to keep guns from getting into the hands of people who should not have them in the first place.”