Tragic coincidence: Santa Fe shooting happened on day of Carrboro High play about gun violence
Posted May 18, 2018 2:55 p.m. EDT
Updated May 19, 2018 12:33 a.m. EDT
Carrboro, N.C. — Students from Carrboro High School used the performing arts Friday night to hash out issues of gun violence and gun control. The performance, "A Night for the Fight Against Gun Violence," was planned before the most recent school shooting in Texas claimed national headlines and 10 lives.
The performance, included "short plays, monologues and a documentary," to shed light on the spike is mass shootings and the peace movement sparked by America's youth.
"I think that tonight is just about hopefully inspiring people to do things in their community to fight against gun violence," student Ellanya Atwater said. "So many school shootings have happened. So many shootings have happened this year, and I just think that our generation has to be the people to let everyone know we're not going to tolerate it."
There is no set definition for the term "mass shooting" but in 2015 the Congressional Research Service produced a report that limited "mass shooting" to those that in which four or more people were killed. That is the measure used for this chart.
While most of the shootings listed here occurred since 2000, Columbine is included because of its notoriety; the 1986 shooting at the post office in Edmond, Okla., is included because it is the origin of the grim term "going postal."
| Date | Site | City | Killed | Weapon(s) used | Additional gear |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05/31/2019 | Municipal building | Virginia Beach, VA | 13 | Two .45-caliber handguns with "several" extended clips | |
| 04/28/2019 | Apartment | West Chester, OH | 4 | Unknown | |
| 02/15/2019 | Workplace | Aurora, IL | 5 | .40-caliber handgun | |
| 02/11/2019 | Private home | Livingston, TX | 5 | Unknown | |
| 01/23/2019 | Bank | Sebring, FL | 5 | 9mm handgun | |
| 11/07/2018 | Borderline Bar & Grill | Thousand Oaks, CA | 13 | Glock 21 .45 caliber with extended clip | |
| 10/27/2018 | Tree of Life Synagogue | Pittsburgh, PA | 11 | AR-15, three handguns | |
| 10/15/2018 | Private house (murder-suicide) | Columbia, TN | 5 | Unknown | |
| 10/13/2018 | Birthday party at private home | Taft, TX | 4 | Unknown | |
| 10/10/2018 | Private home | Rochester, NY | 4 | Unknown | |
| 09/21/2018 | Private house | Henderson, NV | 4 | Unknown | |
| 09/20/2018 | Drugstore distribution center (employee) | Aberdeen, MD | 4 | Unknown | |
| 09/16/2018 | Private house (murder-suicide) | Silver Spring, MD | 4 | Unknown | |
| 09/12/2018 | Business office, then private home | Bakersfield, CA | 6 | Unknown | |
| 09/06/2018 | Office building | Cincinnati, OH | 4 | Unknown | |
| 08/11/2018 | Private house (murder-suicide) | Clearlake, CA | 4 | Unknown | |
| 07/30/2018 | Apartment building | Queens, NY | 4 | Unknown | |
| 07/27/2018 | Home, nursing home (murder-suicide) | Robstown, TX | 5 | Unknown | |
| 07/09/2018 | Private house (murder-suicide) | Prices Corner, DE | 5 | Unknown | |
| 07/01/2018 | Private house | Ardmore, AL | 4 | Unknown | |
| 6/29/2018 | The Capital Gazette | Annapolis, MD | 5 | Shotgun | Smoke grenades, possible explosive |
| 5/18/2018 | Santa Fe High School | Santa Fe, TX | 10 | Shotgun, .38-caliber revolver | Explosives, Molotov cocktail |
| 2/14/2018 | Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School | Parkland, FL | 17 | Semi-automatic rifle | NA |
| 11/5/2017 | First Baptist Church | Sutherland Springs, TX | 27 | Unknown | NA |
| 10/1/2017 | Music festival | Las Vegas, NV | 58 | 10 AR-15s | 100-round magazines |
| 6/12/2016 | Pulse Nightclub | Orlando, FL | 50 | Semi-automatic rifle, 9mm Glock | NA |
| 12/12/2015 | Inland Regional Center (county office) | San Bernardino, CA | 14 | 2 AR-15s | 2 semi-automatic pistols |
| 10/1/2015 | Umpqua Community College | Roseburg, OR | 9 | S&W M99 (.40) and M642-2 (.38); Taurus PT24/7 (.40); Hi-Point CF 380 (.380); Glock 19 (9mm) | NA |
| 6/17/2015 | Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church | Charleston, SC | 9 | Glock 41 (.45) | NA |
| 9/16/2013 | Washington Navy Yard | Washington, DC | 13 | Remington 870 Express Tactical 12-gauge shotgun | NA |
| 6/7/2013 | Multiple sites, including Santa Monica College | Santa Monica, CA | 6 | .44 revolver | NA |
| 12/14/2012 | Sandy Hook Elementary School | Newtown, CN | 26 | Semiautomatic rifle; Sig Sauer semi-auto pistol; Glock semi-auto pistol | NA |
| 8/5/2012 | Sikh Temple of Wisconsin | Oak Creek, WI | 7 | Springfield XD(M) semi-auto pistol | NA |
| 7/20/2012 | Century 16 Movie Theater | Aurora, CO | 12 | Smith and Wesson M&P15; 12-gauge shotgun; Glock 22 | 100-round magazine |
| 10/12/2011 | Salon Meritage | Seal Beach, CA | 8 | Springfield pistol (9mm); Heckler &Koch (.45); S&W Model 29 (.44 Magnum) | NA |
| 8/3/2010 | Hartford Distributors | Manchester, CN | 9 | Ruger SR9 semi-auto pistols (2) | NA |
| 1/19/2010 | Private house | Appomattox, VA | 8 | Unidentified high-power rifle | NA |
| 11/5/2009 | Fort Hood | Fort Hood, TX | 13 | FN Five-seven pistol; Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver | NA |
| 4/3/2009 | American Civic Association Immigration Center | Binghamton, NY | 14 | 9mm Beretta 92FS Vertec Inox; Beretta Px4 Storm .45 caliber (2) | NA |
| 3/29/2009 | Pinelake Health and Rehab | Carthage, NC | 8 | Winchester 12-gauge shotgun; .357 Magnum revolver; .22 Magnum semi-auto pistol | NA |
| 3/10/2009 | Geneva County, multiple locations | Kinston, AL | 11 | Bushmaster AR-15; 12-gauge shotgun, .38-cal handgun; Soviet-made SKS semi-auto rifle | NA |
| 12/5/2007 | Westroads Mall | Omaha NE | 9 | AKM 7.62x39mm semi-auto rifle (AK-47) | NA |
| 10/7/2007 | Crandon High School | Crandon, WI | 6 | AR-15 | NA |
| 4/16/2007 | Virginia Tech campus | Blacksburg, VA | 32 | 9mm Glock; Walther P-22 pistol | NA |
| 3/21/2005 | Red Lake High School | Red Lake, MN | 9 | Glock 23 (.40); Ruger MKII (.22); 12-guage shotgun | NA |
| 4/20/1999 | Columbine High School | Jefferson County, CO | 15 | Intratec TEC-DC9 | Explosives, knives |
| 8/20/1986 | Edmond Post Office | Edmund, OK | 15 | 3 semiautomatic pistols | NA |
| Mass shooting tracker: | https://www.massshootingtracker.org/data | ||||
| Congressional Research Service report defining "mass shooting" as four or more dead: | https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44126.pdf | ||||
As the performance had been in the works for months, students had to make changes Friday after they learned of the fatal shooting in Texas.
"We added a small section to the film about the Santa Fe shooting, and we had to amend it like three different times as more details came out," Atwater said.
Since the February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., high school students across the country and across the Triangle have raised their voices and been activated to demand a political response to the epidemic of mass shootings in the United States.
Students walked out of schools across the country on March 14 to mark a month after the Florida attack that killed 17, and they led a national "March for Our Lives" on March 24 that brought millions to the streets of cities from Raleigh to Washington, D.C.
At Sanderson High School in Raleigh, students are planning a forum May 29 with state senators, school board members, police and school safety officers, mental health professionals and students to brainstorm about gun violence, gun rights, mental health and overall school safety.
