It’s only been a little over two weeks since the last school shooting, but here we are again.
This time, the shooting took place at New Hanover High School in Wilmington, North Carolina. It was 11am when shots were fired in a catwalk between school buildings. An unidentified student was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, but don’t let the student’s injuries undermine the gravity of this situation. This was still a student who had bullets tear through his body. For all we know, just a few millimeters in any other direction could have resulted in fatal injuries.
The shooter is said to be 15-year-old Chance Deablo who has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, as well as bringing and discharging a gun on school grounds.
The shooting is believed to have stemmed from a fight that took place in the school’s catwalk just before the shooting. A video surfaced on social media of a fight where gunfire can be heard, but neither the media nor the police have said this is the New Hanover shooting.
I haven’t seen any word yet on what caused the fight.
However, as with the most recent school shootings, I have two questions to ask. The first is, have we become so numb to school shootings that a single injured student doesn’t even crack the national headlines? Everyone who is complaining about there should be ‘no new normal’ when it comes to COVID doesn’t seem to have a problem with the new normal of guns in our schools in the hands of children. Sadly, this has been the new normal for a lot longer than we’ve been arguing about mask wearing, but as a nation, we were quick to roll over and accept this normal of kids being shot.
Of course, the second question is, where was Deablo able to get his hands on the gun? Having lived in North Carolina, I know the guns laws there are pretty lax. However, 15-year-olds can’t buy guns there. Is this another case of a parent failing to secure a gun in the home? It might be if history is any indicator, but that remains to be seen.
As always, I’ll post more details as they become available, but sadly this has become just another day in America.
- (Sources)
- 15-year-old charged in shooting at North Carolina high school
- 15-year-old arrested after student shot at Wilmington high school, sheriff says
- 15-year-old charged in shooting at New Hanover High School
- Student shot at North Carolina school, 15-year-old arrested, sheriff’s office says
- New Hanover High School: Shooting suspect arrested following lockdown, evacuation of students
- Video of fight purportedly related to shooting at New Hanover High
Real Crime with Trench Reynolds 