Did bullying cause a La. school shooting?
On Tuesday, September 12th, 16-year-old Vernon Gordon, Jr. was shot and killed at St. Helena College and Career Academy in Greensburg, Louisiana. Two other students were wounded. All three victims were students of the school. A juvenile suspect was taken into custody. The suspect has been described as a 14-year-old male student.
According to the St. Helena Parish Sheriff’s Office, all three victims were sitting in a car together shortly after dismissal. The suspect fired what’s been described as a spray of bullets at the car.
Investigators say bullying played into the motive, but that remains to be seen.
The suspect was arrested at his home, and charged with second-degree murder, aggravated second-degree battery and possession of a firearm in a firearm-free school zone. He’s being held in a juvenile detention facility.
The weapon used in the shooting was a Glock handgun with an extended magazine. That sounds like the shooter may have gang connections, as the extended magazine is often favored by gang members, from what I understand. Oh, and there you go, gun nerds. So far, there’s been no word on where the suspect obtained the gun.
And yet again, we have another case of ‘it can’t happen here’…
“You’d never think it’d happen right here at home. You’d never think it’d happen here,” said a teacher and alumnus of the school.
Not to be too hard on the teacher, but this is the country where it happens, and it happens everywhere. From the biggest city to the smallest town, until something is done about having more guns than people in this country, it will continue.
But getting back to the supposed motive, I think it was irresponsible of the county sheriff to claim bullying was the reason behind the shooting without elaborating. In their defense, the sheriff’s office did say they’re not sure who bullied who, as the matter is still under investigation. However, claiming that the motive was bullying without further clarification is dangerous, in my opinion, as it proliferates the myth of the bullied school shooter.
When a motive like this is put out to the public early in an investigation, not only will some people use this as a way of excusing a school shooting, but it gives potential school shooters a justification for committing mass murder. More often than not, it turns out the shooter was the actual bully, in my opinion. Again, while bullying is a plague in every school, it’s not a reason to commit murder. When shooters claim to have been bullied, it makes the schools more concerned about finding the next shooter than doing anything about actual bullying.
(Sources)
- Teenager dead, juvenile suspect in custody after Louisiana school shooting
- 1 dead, 2 injured in St. Helena High shooting, sheriff says; 14-year-old student arrested
- Sheriff: 14-year-old killed classmate, injured 2 others in St. Helena school shooting; bullying suspected
- Juvenile suspect arrested in connection to deadly shooting at St. Helena school; class canceled until Friday
- 14-year-old charged with murder in St. Helena school shooting that killed 1, hurt 2
- 14-year-old booked on 2nd-degree murder in St. Helena school shooting; ‘bullying’ likely involved, official says
