CHICAGO – The Illinois chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, today released the following statement after a shooting wounded two students, one of them fatally, outside Youth Connection Charter School West in Chicago this morning. According to news reports, one of the students managed to run into the school after being shot, and his condition was later stabilized at a local hospital. The other student died as a result of his injuries.
Everytown research shows there have been at least 58 school shootings nationwide this year and at least 267 since January 2013. These numbers do not include Monday’s shooting, which did not happen on school grounds.
More than 90 Americans are killed with guns every day on average, and hundreds more are injured. More information about gun violence in the U.S. is available here.
STATEMENT FROM MARIA PIKE, VOLUNTEER WITH THE ILLINOIS CHAPTER OF MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA AND A MEMBER OF THE EVERYTOWN SURVIVOR NETWORK, WHOSE SON RICKY WAS FATALLY SHOT WHILE TRYING TO PARK IN FRONT OF HIS APARTMENT IN 2012:
“Our hearts go out to the families and to the school community affected by this tragic shooting. Getting to school should not be a life-threatening experience, and this horrifying shooting should remind each of us how urgently we have to work to reduce gun violence in our country and in our city.”