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16-year-old girl says she's only alive in St. Louis because school shooter's gun 'got jammed' [1]
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Date: 2022-10-24
Sack said a police captain was one of the first inside the building after reports of the shooting, and that captain reported that officers “arrived quickly” and “made entry with no hesitation.” No officers were injured in their response to the shooting.
Sack said officers “went directly to the sound of gunfire, which is the expectation” of the department and the community, “to protect our kids and our teachers in these schools that should be considered safe.”
x Police are on site at Central Visual and Performing Arts this morning following reports of an active shooter and both CVPA and Collegiate are on lockdown.
The shooter was quickly stopped by police inside CVPA.
We have reports of 2 students injured and on the way to the hospital. — Saint Louis Public Schools (@SLPS_INFO) October 24, 2022
That expectation was not met in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two adults were killed waiting for about an hour for police to enter.
RELATED STORY: Police at Uvalde left the shooter in the classroom for an hour while they refused to go in
Democrat Ray Reed tweeted that, during his campaign for Congress, he stressed "that relaxed gun laws in states like Missouri was only inviting more school shooting tragedies like Uvalde to happen in St. Louis."
"This morning, it happened in St. Louis," Reed penned.
x Congresswoman Cori Bush outside gateway stem following the shooting at a nearby high school as parents reunite with their students. On what's next: @nytimes pic.twitter.com/6sUbFkayYN — Jenna Fisher (@ReporterJenna) October 24, 2022
Rep. Cori Bush, the first Black woman to represent Missouri in Congress, was on the scene of a nearby high school as parents found their children. She said she and students have been planning a bullying and school safety event for months as part of her “Congress in Your Classroom” program with high school students. "We talked about this in our session just last week, and the students were talking about how safe some of them don't feel at school," she said.
Taniya Gholston, a 16-year-old who survived the shooting, told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch that she heard two shots and then came face to face with the shooter. “I was trying to run, and I couldn’t run,” she said. “Me and him made eye contact.”
The student said she was glad to make it out and only was able to escape because the gunman’s gun “got jammed.” Gholston told the Post-Dispatch she heard the shooter speak. "He said like, 'I'm tired of this damn school,' and 'I'm tired of everybody in this damn school,'" she said.
x This is gutting.pic.twitter.com/p1xDZiXfJO — Ray Reed (@RayReedMO) October 24, 2022
The Central Visual and Performing Arts High School had about 380 students last school year, and 289 of them are Black, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Lori Willis, a spokeswoman for St. Louis Public Schools, told The New York Times the school also houses the Collegiate School of Medical and Bioscience, another high school, and both were on lockdown during the shooting. Willis said the shooter was dressed in all black, and neither the motive for the shooting nor the gunman's link to the school is known at this time.
David Williams, a math teacher at the high school, told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch that a bullet went through a window of his classroom door, and he heard a man saying everyone was going to die.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones tweeted, "Help us Jesus" when she learned of the shooting. She later said in a statement that the "gun violence epidemic facing our students, teachers, and staff is a public health crisis."
"I visited Central Visual and Performing Arts High School on the first day of school and talked to students about how excited they were for their upcoming school year," the mayor said in her statement. "Now, less than two months later, we are in mourning after gun violence stole members of our community from our city and their families.
“Investigators are still gathering the specifics about this heartbreaking tragedy, but we know this: Our schools and other places of learning should be safe - period."
x St. Louis will come together to support the @CentralVPA community. @STLCityGov is partnering with @BHR_STL to connect youth and families with mental health support during this incredibly difficult time. Learn more:
https://t.co/BGhrNlm0fD — Mayor Tishaura O. Jones (@saintlouismayor) October 24, 2022
Shannon Watts, founder of the grassroots movement for public safety Moms Demand Action, has long been advocating for stricter gun laws. She tweeted about the shooting:
”The school in St. Louis had metal detectors. Police said the doors were locked. There were armed guards inside the school. Two people are dead. Republicans will tell you the solution is somehow more guns. On Nov 8, you need to tell them they’re full of shit.”
x The school in St. Louis had metal detectors. Police said the doors were locked. There were armed guards inside the school.
Two people are dead.
Republicans will tell you the solution is somehow more guns. On Nov 8, you need to tell them they’re full of shit. pic.twitter.com/fJdYsXnC6k — Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) October 24, 2022
RELATED STORY: GOP solution school shootings? Mental health. GOP response to mental health help to schools? No
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