Townville Elementary School Shooting is 37th School Shooting in 2016; 197th School Shooting Since 2013
GREENVILLE, S.C. — The South Carolina chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, today responded to reports of a shooting at Townville Elementary School on Wednesday afternoon. Three people – two students and a teacher – were shot at the school. Everytown and Moms Demand Action have kept an index of school shootings in America since 2013 – recording anytime a firearm is discharged inside a school building or on a school campus or grounds. This is at least the 37th school shooting in 2016, including the second in South Carolina, and the 197th school shooting since January 2013.
STATEMENT FROM MONICA ROCKWELL, VOLUNTEER WITH THE SOUTH CAROLINA CHAPTER, MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA:
“Today Anderson County families experienced a nightmare that far too many parents know – the barrage of calls and texts that come when your child’s school is suddenly in the midst of a shooting. We should be able to send our kids to school without fearing that they’ll be gunned down. We simply cannot allow this to become the new normal – our children deserve so much better than this. This is at least the 197th incidence of gunfire on a school campus since January 2013, and the 37th this year. I hope South Carolinians will take this tragic and terrifying shooting as a reminder that we have to do more to keep our kids safe. We need to work together to reduce gun violence and I encourage parents to vote for candidates who will do the same.”