Reports Indicate the Gunman Shot and Injured Two Students Before Being Fatally Shot
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Maryland chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, today released the following response after a school shooting at Great Mills High School in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. According to reports, a student shot and wounded two other students and was then fatally shot. A county deputy working at the school fired at the suspect, according to news reports, but authorities did not immediately confirm whether the deputy’s round was the fatal shot.
According to Everytown research, this is at least the 33rd shooting on or onto school grounds in the U.S. in 2018. Everytown defines these shootings as any time a firearm discharges a live round inside or into a school building or on or onto a school campus or grounds, as documented by the press and, when necessary, confirmed through further inquiries with law enforcement or school officials. A summary of each of these incidents is available here.
Students in Maryland and across the country are preparing to take part in the March for Our Lives movement organized after last month’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Instead of voting on legislation that would reduce gun violence, lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives are holding a hearing today on the mistakes of law enforcement. Since the Parkland tragedy, Congress has taken no votes and passed no legislation on gun safety.
STATEMENT FROM DANIELLE VEITH, VOLUNTEER LEADER WITH THE MARYLAND CHAPTER OF MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA:
“Our hearts go out today to the families of Great Mills High School. Just over a month after the tragic shooting in Parkland, and just days before students across the country will march for gun safety, we’ve been reminded yet again that our children are not immune from America’s gun violence crisis, even while attending school. Children can’t learn if they don’t feel safe, and increasingly many students are worried that school is a place where they need to fear for their lives. We cannot accept this as the norm, and we cannot accept that more than 90 people die from gun violence every day in our country. This is a uniquely American problem, and American parents and concerned citizens have had enough. That’s why I’ll be marching alongside Maryland students this weekend, demanding action from our legislators in Maryland and Washington, D.C. to do more to protect our children from gun violence in their schools.”