Where Your Children Are texas

19 dead in shooting at Texas elementary school

Shooting suspect Salvador Ramos (Instagram)

Eighteen students and two teachers are dead, and many others are injured, after a shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

The named suspect, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, opened fire on students at Robb Elementary School today after reportedly shooting and killing his grandmother. Sources say Ramos was a former student at the school. He is also reported to be dead after a standoff with border patrol agents. Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed that Ramos was a United States citizen.

Students were evacuated a few hours later to Sgt. Willie Deleon Civic Center, a mile and a half away from the school, while parents were alerted to where to pick up their children.

Robb Elementary School, in Uvalde, Texas, is 80 miles from San Antonio, and 60 miles from the Mexican border. It serves students from second to fourth grade. The student body reflects the demographics of Uvalde, with over 90% of students listed as Hispanic or Latino. Nearly 90% of students qualify as low-income. The school falls well below the state average for standardized test scores.

Edit: It was previously reported that the death toll included only 14 students and 1 teacher; the number of deaths has, sadly, risen since the original publication of this post.

Death toll in Texas elementary school shooting rises; 19 children, 3 adults killed by shooter

Salvador Ramos: Suspect in Uvalde Elementary School Shooting

Texas gunman, 18, shoots dead 14 elementary schoolkids, one teacher, and seriously injures 13 after barricading himself inside building… – DailyMail

Robb Elementary School – GreatSchools

Where Your Children Are california

California sophomore shoots 5 others and himself at high school

nathanielberhow

Nathaniel Berhow is listed as the suspect in a shooting at a local high school that left 2 students dead and another 4, including Berhow, injured. It is said that Berhow, on Thursday, the morning of his 16th birthday, opened fire on his classmates killing 2  and injuring 3 before using the last bullet in the .45-caliber handgun on himself. He remains in “grave” condition.

The entire ordeal lasted approximately 16 seconds.

Berhow is assumed to be half-Japanese; only relevant because this blog aims to show that disturbed children and teachers come from all ethnic backgrounds. His father died from heart failure in 2017 after a long battle with alcoholism. A neighbor attests that it was Nathaniel Berhow who had found his father’s body. A motive for the shooting has not been determined, although Berhow’s mother and girlfriend are both being questioned and the family’s house has been searched, and by all accounts Berhow seems to have appeared a “quiet” and “respectful” teenager,  as well as a good student, athlete, and a long-term Boy Scout, although in recent days one Saugus student claims he noticed the alleged shooter looking different than usual, possibly more depressed. It’s only assumed that nothing was done about it.

Santa Clarita, a city about 40 miles north of Los Angeles, is 70% white and 0.6% Japanese. The median household income is $82,607. Seventy-nine percent of the 715 students at Saugus High School, which serve students in grades 9-12, are white. While test scores and college readiness are at about the state average, parents and students report the school contains teachers that “don’t care,” and students that are quick to bully.

Police look into motive behind California school shooting

What we know about the California school shooting suspect

A community in shock describes suspect they know

Santa Clarita shooting: Dad of Nathaniel Berhow was avid hunter who used to ‘make bullets’: reports

Nathaniel Berhow: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Neighbor Describes Saugus High School Shooting Suspect Nathaniel Berhow’s Family As ‘Good People’

Santa Clarita, California – Wikipedia

Deadly shooting at California high school, Live Updates

Saugus High School – GreatSchools

Where Your Children Are colorado

Shooting at high school leaves one student injured, one suspect at-large

volleyball
image courtesy Vince Fleming on Unsplash

All schools in the Sheridan School District in Sheridan, Colorado are closed today after a shooting Tuesday evening during a volleyball game that sent one student from a neighboring district to the hospital. The suspect is still on the loose, and while the district insists this is an “isolated incident,” they insist that all schools need to be closed.

The shooting took place in the parking lot of Sheridan High School during a girls’ volleyball game between the school and the Bruce Randolph School in Denver.

Sheridan School District No. 2 (oddly enough, the No. 1 appears to be in Wyoming) serves students in 5 schools in Sheridan, Colorado.

Sheridan High School in Sheridan, Colorado has a student population (grades 9-12) of 369 students, 78% of whom are Hispanic. They grossly underperform on math and reading, compared with the state average. Eighty-seven percent of students meet income eligibility requirements for free lunch.

There is no mention of the shooting on Sheridan School District’s website other than a big red “All Day Closure,” banner up top, also reading, “Sheridan School District 2 is closed today, October 9, 2019 due to an incident last night.” Nice and cryptic. They do have a much more direct message on their front page about accepting all students regardless of immigration status, and their refusal to support separating children from their families at the border.

The Bruce Randolph School in Denver, Colorado serves 795 students in grades 6-12. Ninety percent of their student population is Hispanic, with another 9% listed as black. They perform even worse on standardized tests than those at Sheridan, with only 5% meeting math proficiency requirements, and 14% demonstrating reading proficiency. Eighty-eight percent of students are eligible for free lunch. The school is within Denver Public School District. No mention of the shooting is on their website at all.

All Sheridan Schools Closed After Shooting Outside High School

Shooting at Sheridan High School leaves 1 injured; suspect at-large, police say

Sheridan School District NO. 2

Sheridan High School – Public School Review

Denver Public Schools

Bruce Randolph School – Public School Review

Where Your Children Are colorado

School administrator pulls gun on staff

auroraprep

Aurora, Colorado: home to the 2012 movie theater mass shooting that left a city, and a nation, in mourning, once again questioning what the Second Amendment means and how it should be implemented; now also home to Aurora West College Preparatory Academy, where an administrator brandished a gun at a staff meeting on Wednesday, threatening fellow employees at the school.

Tushar Rae, Dean of Instruction at the school, was arrested Wednesday on charges of bringing a concealed weapon to school and making violent threats. An arrest affidavit filed in district court says Rae took a gun from his waistband during a meeting with principal Taisiya Tselolikhin (say that name three times, fast) earlier that day, placed it on a table between them and threatened to shoot two school administrators.

The altercation apparently had something to do with test scores, and subsequently prompted a lockdown of the school while Rae left the premises – he was later arrested at his home.

A letter to families, which follows below, was made available in both English and Spanish via email and the school website. As usual, vagueness was the order of the day.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE AURORA WEST LOCKDOWN

APS Community:

I know that many of you may have questions about the lockdown that occurred at Aurora West College Preparatory Academy on Wednesday. First off, I want to thank the students and staff at AWCPA for following our safety and security protocols seamlessly. I also want to thank parents at AWCPA for their patience and support. Safety is our top priority.

We acknowledge that many of you have questions and may be frustrated. Please know that this is both an ongoing criminal investigation and personnel matter. We have many limitations we must adhere to in order to respect both processes.

During emergencies, we understand the urgent and important need to communicate with our community. Please know that we always work to share information that is timely, accurate and actionable through phone calls, emails and text messages. We cannot share information that is not confirmed, information that would compromise an ongoing criminal investigation or protected personnel information.

We have been working closely with the Aurora Police Department, Denver Police Department and other law enforcement agencies as their criminal investigation continues. Our focus remains on providing as much support to our students, staff and community as possible.

Many of you may be seeing media reports that have raised concerns. APS staff have met with AWCPA staff, students and families to address concerns. We appreciate the opportunities we have had to talk with the school community throughout this week.

We know that this event has been upsetting for students and staff. We have had and will continue to have counselors available for those who need support. Counselors will continue to be available at Aurora West on Monday and throughout next week.

I would like to thank the AWCPA family for your vigilance, teamwork and support. It has been an extremely tough week and we will continue to work together to heal, support our students and each other.  

Rico Munn
Superintendent
Aurora Public Schools

Aurora West College Preparatory Academy, located just 15 minutes from where the mass shooting in 2012 that left 12 people dead and 70 injured, has a 3/10 rating on GreatSchools, citing low test scores (in some cases as low as 2% passing — far below state averages) and poor college readiness – proof, I think, that a fancy-sounding school name is not enough to get prepare youth for college. The school also boasts a 95% minority student population.

Educator accused of taking gun to school, threatening staff

GreatSchools – Aurora West College Preparatory Academy

Dean at Aurora West College Preparatory Academy arrested after lockdown

Aurora West Preparatory Academy – Official Website