She was too shaken to say anything more. U.S. Mass shootings Gun reform Sandy Hook Gun Violence. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. "Well, she saw someone who she felt was angry and someone she felt was very mad," Solomon said. "And if our kids are feeling anxious, worried, sad and depressed, which we know that they are at an increased level at this point. Published on February 27, 2023 12:56 PM. Everything was fine. When I was 9 and 10, I tried to forget it all. Solomon went on to say to ABC News: "What did she see in there? It shouldn't run through anybody's head.". Living through a mass shooting changed all four of the students. "I think what we know just needs to come to fruition.". And for that, there are no words to truly describe the gratitude in my heart. The scene outside Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012. NEWTOWN, Conn. As her eyes welled with tears, Abbey Clements held her former Sandy Hook second graders and apologized for a deadly school shooting nearly 2,000 miles away in Uvalde, Texas . A Warner Bros. Out of respect for their privacy, ABC News is not using the survivors' last names. It was just past 1 p.m. Saturday and, combined, they had already talked to NBC, CBS, NPR and MSNBC, along with a batch of other news outlets. When Nicole, who was just a girl when she survived the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting a decade ago, first heard about the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, she broke down in tears. All Rights Reserved. She imagined being shot, dying alone. Now, at the hotel, Fuentes headed off to change into her blue March for Our Lives T-shirt, her black folder of talking points still unopened, and Touray found a quiet space on the other side of the room where she could study all of them, hoping to come up with a question that would somehow make a difference. Im hoping that you do it this time, though, Touray said, sensing Hoggs exhaustion after what had already been a frustrating week of discussions with lawmakers. Newtown Action Alliance/YouTube, @indigogloves/Twitter. Matthews is not the only MSU survivor faced with the aftermath of their second school massacre. Despite the trauma that students, teachers and families have experienced from past mass shootings at schools across the country, folks at Sandy Hook Promise and survivors like Fuentes, Eastmond and Walczk, are hopeful that change will happen. I continue to teach at another school in Newtown, trying to build a generation of empathetic problem solvers. Pressleys words left Touray feeling hopeful, even after a more somber meeting with Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, who told the group that he wasnt sure whether the Senate would pass any new legislation, and if they did, it wouldnt include many of the items they wanted most. The year after the shooting, we needed to be sure each child was placed with the right second-grade teacher. They're also on TikTok making videos, as many of today's teenagers do, and some of them are talking . Shed heard of Parkland, but knew almost nothing about it. In so many ways, Mrs. Clements brought my daughter back to us. I cant imagine the courage it will take for her to walk in that school and teach and breathe life into children. The next Hana. The lone survivor of one of the two Sandy Hook Elementary School first-grade classrooms where Adam Lanza allegedly shot and killed 20 children tricked the gunman by playing dead, the girl's pastor . On December 14, 2012, a 20-year-old man walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and shot 26 people, including 20 children. Sandy Hook survivors: "We're at a tipping point" on gun laws. Now a freshman at Siena College, Bisset has organized a remembrance at t The House was just hours away from voting for sweeping new gun legislation that many believed had no chance of passing in the Senate. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? She will graduate from Newtown High School next week. Maggie lost her best friend, Daniel Barden. Since then, she has spoken publicly at news conferences in Connecticut and at rallies in D.C. She's also traveled several times to the nation's capital, including in July to celebrate the historic June 24 signing of the Bipartisan Gun Bill on the White House lawn. I cant believe this is happening again, the students distraught mother told the Detroit Free Press in the aftermath of the Monday night carnage, which also took place on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting in Parkland, Fla. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Katy Perry breaks down on American Idol: Our country has fking failed us!, Pool hall mass shooter who killed 7 taken out by cops, accomplice surrenders, MSU student injured in shooting is paralyzed from chest down, Mississippi gunman who killed 6, including ex-wife, had history mental illness, source claims, MSU student who survived second school shooting wonders when will it end, Michigan State University shooter no stranger to cops, motive remains unknown, MSU student who lost pals in Oxford school shooting relives horror. "No one could comfort anyone else because it was pure devastation and loss. . He looked her in the eyes. . It has to happen in days, not weeks.. Fuentes was studying film at Hunter College in New York and worked at a jewelry wholesaler in Manhattan, but activism had long felt like her real job. Some of the earliest help offered was from surviving staff members from Columbine who wanted to come and support us. Discovery Company. On some nights, she wakes up sweating, thrashing, screaming. Like the other survivors, Andrew called for gun reform -- an issue that remains intensely polarizing in Congress, where Republicans are reluctant to take up legislation they argue restricts the Second Amendment. December 7, 2014 / 9:39 AM / CBS News. Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, also called Newtown shootings of 2012, mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012, that left 28 people dead and 2 injured. On the TV outside Murphys office, broken families from Uvalde and a mass shooting in Buffalo were testifying in front of a congressional committee. They were among the most important figures in the fight for reform, Touray had just learned. Dec. 14, 2018, marks six years since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7, as well as six adult staff members, were killed. Today, Sandy Hook Promise -- a nonprofit organization led by several family members whose loved ones were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012 -- released a video of survivors of school shootings reciting lyrics from Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" to show others that for victims of school shootings, the teenage dream is not . These subsequent months and years are the more difficult phase, the fraught part two. Thousands of other students have the same story. Now Im a volunteer leader with Moms Demand Action for Gun Safety fighting to chip away at our deplorable statistics. Some of us were able to connect with support while others were not. Theres no training for navigating the aftermath of a shooting. January 3, 2021 6:05pm. She didnt see any exits. Now more than ever, its essential to know the signs.. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 6203604. When those of us who survived went home later that day, the first thing we had to do was be strong for our own children, several of whom also survived the shooting that day, and many of whom were school-aged children in other community schools. But shed come to D.C. despite her growing cynicism, because she needed this community of survivors and the activism that helped her manage the trauma. Lily Altavena. Survivors of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting send a message about hope, pain and grief to the children of Uvalde, Texas. It's been nearly nine years since the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting that rocked the U.S. in December of 2012, meaning that even those among the youngest survivors have recently entered high school. We teach conflict resolution by talking out problems. Part of HuffPost Personal. She used to, until she taught herself to brace for the triggers before they came. In 2018, Samantha Fuentes survived a school shooting in Parkland, Florida. I think Im going to throw up, Touray said, rushing into a white tent nearby. In 2018, when she was in eighth grade, she started to become involved in gun violence prevention. But Murphy urged Fuentes, Touray and the other activists to keep doing what theyd been doing. As the kids were exiting their school, they were told to put their hands on the shoulders of the student in front of them and to close their eyes as they walked. As a staff and individually, we navigated the push and pull of how to honor the dead, where to spend your time, how to volunteer, when to make your donations, how to manage your emotional capacity, when to care for yourself. The World is a public radio program that crosses borders and time zones to bring home the stories that matter. She had 18. Sandy Hook Promise 2023 2. Carlitos RodriguezParkland, Florida 2018Barricaded himself behind a door. We held each other up as the days and weeks wore on, so we could be there day in and day out for the students. All interviews are available on sandyhookpromise.org. Fuentes stared into the teens vacant eyes, her heart aching for Tourays anguish and her own and for all the others who had been scarred by school shootings and would never entirely escape what theyd endured. Standing in front of her, Pressley thought for a moment. Copyright 2023 ABC News Internet Ventures. We teach conflict resolution by talking out problems. "It sparked something in me," she says. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society named her one of its students of the year in March for raising money and awareness for the disease. Thank you so much for all your work, she said. Quotes from the interviews were used throughout the 360 work. "It's quite ironic, I think when you look at the lyrics," Samantha Fuentes, a Parkland school shooting survivor who appears in the PSA, told "Good Morning America." Touray had just started seeing a therapist, because fear had changed who she was, too. Paralyzed from waist down. Why is everyone running?. Im freaking out, Touray said, leaning on her knees. I was drowning. Nick Walczak, a survivor of the 2012 mass shooting at Chardon High School in Chardon, Ohio, said he now thinks three steps ahead wherever he goes in case he's caught in another shooting. (Video: The Washington Post, Photo: Getty/The Washington Post). Katie Bisset was a third grader huddled in the corner of her classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. I continue to teach at another school in Newtown, trying to build a generation of empathetic problem solvers. The other three survivors -- Andrew, Jackie and Nicole -- are now juniors at Newtown High. Nicole Melchionno who was a second grader at Sandy Hook Elementary on Dec. 14, 2012 testified Thursday at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on gun violence about her experience . A gunman entered the building and fatally shot 20 children and six adults before taking his own life. Matthews moving message was later reposted on Twitter, by Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts, where it drew thousands of retweets and comments. "Our students are having feelings of loss of sense of safety, where that is different from past generations it's a different experience," Dr. Rachel Masi, a clinical psychologist and director of research at Sandy Hook Promise, said. Obama Says He Felt 'Not Just Sorrow, But Anger' After Sandy Hook Shooting as 10-Year Anniversary Approaches, Sandy Hook 10 Years Later: Remembering the 89 Students Killed in School Shootings From that Day Until Now, Barack Obama Addresses Uvalde Shooting Nearly 10 Years After Sandy Hook: 'Our Country Is Paralyzed', Mich. State Mass Shooting Survivor Also Lived Through Sandy Hook Massacre: 'We Need Action', President Joe Biden Addresses Shooting at Texas Elementary School: 'I Am Sick and Tired of It', Mich. State Students Recount Horror of Campus Shooting that Killed 3: 'I Thought I Was Going to Die', Suspect in Mich. State Mass Shooting ID'd, Caller's Tip Led Police to Him, Victims of Michigan State Mass Shooting Identified: 'We Are Grieving Together', Barack Obama Reflects on 'Single Darkest Day of My Presidency' on 10-Year Anniversary of Sandy Hook Shooting, Uvalde Mom Files Lawsuit Against Gun Manufacturer, Police and Others Over Daughter's Murder, Uvalde School Police Chief: I 'Contained' Shooter in Classroom to Protect Kids Outside. The school district floated the idea of bringing in substitute teachers if we were not up to returning, but not one staff member thought the kids should return to a school full of strangers. Im sorry that youre part of the club that none of us want to be part of, he said. She was represented by a speaking agency and, before the pandemic, traveled a couple times a month to speak at colleges and nonprofits. Hegarty, a Sandy Hook survivor, lost 20 young classmates and six educators in that shooting, which marks its somber 10th remembrance this year. 2 min read. Many of them had been here before. Browning, a March for Our Lives policy associate, skimmed through the pages of the packet, detailing all the items they wanted Touray and the others to pitch to lawmakers: universal background checks for gun purchasers, the Protecting Our Kids Act, an assault weapons ban. How difficult the aftermath is, and the decisions it entails, hasnt been easily understood. According to a report released earlier this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gun violence is the leading cause of death for teens, which is a concern facing many students returning to school this Fall. Thats somehow part of why Im here. Since then, no major federal gun reform has come to pass. Howd the interviews go? Fuentes asked Touray, the two of them standing together in a gated VIP section next to the March for Our Lives stage, where Hogg was midway through his speech. Of 16 children in the classroom, the unidentified girl was the only survivor. The Uvalde tragedy has opened painful memories for survivors of past shootings, including Cyrena Arokium. As Nicole kept hearing about the increasing number of school shootings that kept taking place after Sandy Hook, she decided to turn tragedy into triumph by fighting to end gun violence. A group of survivors, including Fuentes and Touray, had been asked to stand behind her in a show of solidarity. Noah Orona still had not cried. All of them are speaking publicly for the first time. To Fuentes, being right didnt matter much, not anymore. So as a teenager who's had all of that ripped from me -- it's almost like something that you wish that I could have. Emma NeesRockford, Washington 2017Shot through the abdomen while running from shooter. I dont think the same thing is necessarily going to work, Fuentes said afterward, sitting on a stone bench outside Murphys office as Touray listened. He would have turned 18 that day. People wanted to help me forget, because a loud noise would go off and Id get so upset that I couldnt breathe, or even think. I am 21 years old, and this is the second mass shooting that I have now lived through, Jackie Matthews said in an emotional TikTok video shared early Tuesday. But this year, she has decided she wants to be a teacher at Sandy Hook School. My daughter has many years to decide what she wants to. (Video: The Washington Post), Dozens of attendees scattered in fear after a man stormed on stage during a moment of silence at the March for Our Lives protest in Washington, D.C. on June 11. Our mission is simple, and our ambitions unbeatable, she had shouted to a roaring crowd, so overcome with nerves that she vomited on stage before finishing her speech. Educators teach peace and nonviolence. Weve let down generations of children by letting this continue, one user replied. Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis had just sat her first-graders down for a morning meeting at Sandy Hook Elementary . Two were killed. Demanding that conservative lawmakers acknowledge a moral obligation to protect children from guns hadnt succeeded, Fuentes realized, so maybe that was the wrong approach. SURVIVING SANDY HOOK: 'I can't give you proof except for my trauma' Ashley survived the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that left 26 people d. "I'm struck by how sad it makes me that it keeps happening. She suffers from tinnitus in her ears and could eventually go blind in one eye. Samantha FuentesParkland, Florida 2018Bullet fragments remain in her face and legs. John Moore via Getty Images. That bipartisan legislation included instituting mandatory background checks and banning the sale of high-capacity magazines. What school shootings do to the kids who survive them, from Sandy Hook to Uvalde. Without exception, the staff at Sandy Hook chose to be there to greet the surviving children as they returned to an unfamiliar school in a neighboring town. Accepting that bad things were inevitable made them easier for her to manage, and Fuentes knew that made her sound like a pessimist sometimes, but she rejected that label. Solomon said the girl's family was suffering survivor's guilt because many of their friends were not as lucky and had lost children in the tragedy. "I was scared that I was going to die.". For more on Nicole Melchionno and the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick up this week's issue, on newsstands Friday. All shared in the dismay and frustration they feel watching more school shootings occur. The shrapnel buried in her muscles made it hard to stand for too long. A college student who survived the deadly shooting that killed three students and critically wounded five others Monday night at Michigan State University also lived through the horrific Sandy Hook massacre over 10 years ago. 16. When law enforcement arrived, Nicole and her classmates and teacher ran to a nearby firehouse, where she was later reunited with her family. Fuentes understood. Despite the challenges that he has faced over the years, Walczak -- as well as Fuentes and Eastmond -- said they want others to know that shootings are preventable. "I think as well as you can expect them to," he said of how the girl's mother and father are handling the trauma. "I was just thinking about all the families that are in their houses right now, telling their children that their siblings and that their friends and their classmates are gone," Maggie, another student, told Raddatz. As the school district went into lockdown during the chaos, Matthews crouched in place with her . Nothing about this has been easy. Alissa is the co-founder of. Touray and Fuentes had just made it through security at the Hart Senate Office Building, passing inside a metal detector monitored by three armed guards, when a roller on the X-ray machine came loose, slamming against the tile floor. "Let's bring it into the light and say these are the concerns that our kids are having," said Masi. . Describe forgiveness, but dont prescribe forgiveness. The fact that this is the second mass shooting that I have now lived through is incomprehensible, Matthews said. Ultimately, music therapy would prove to be the most effective. Now the rally was nearing its end, and Gonzlez was about to take the stage. Aalayah EastmondParkland, Florida 2018Hid under body of classmate to survive a shooting. Photo editing by Mark Miller and Mark Gail. 1. But, like Fuentes, shed found that doing something helped soothe her anxiety. But we can no longer just provide love and prayers. Calm down, her mother said, again and again. I had to do something to be part of the solution. ''I have to navigate every single day -- while also struggling and dealing with survivor's guilt -- which is the biggest hurdle to try and overcome in this process. Living through two is utterly incomprehensible. "I was in my second-grade classroom. She asked Touray to breathe with her. The school shooting survivors had come from all over the country, each of them hoping that this time would be different. And when she cried and told Abbey she missed Ms. Soto Mrs. Clements simply held her and said, I do too.. This time is different, Touray had heard people she admired say over and over last week, and she believed them. I think it's impossible outside of divine intervention. Samantha Fuentes, Parkland, FL 2018. It was gunfire. The next morning, her chance to ask it came at the base of the U.S. Capitol steps during a meeting with Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Democratic congresswoman from Massachusetts. ", Fuentes added, "This story that I've experienced -- my life is becoming more and more of a reality for people of my age.". Enough is enough.. And if I'm somewhere that has stairs or something, it's very nerve-wracking because I am stuck there.". A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Tuesday allowed victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre to retain a forensic financial investigator to dig into the finances of bankrupt right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who for years falsely claimed that the shooting was a hoax. More than a decade has passed since Jackie Matthews survived the Sandy Hook shooting, crouched down in her sixth grade class in a different school in the . As a child, she rarely paid attention to the news and was only allowed to watch PBS Kids on weekdays. "You hear about other shootings and it breaks you. And that should never run through a 7-, 8-year-old kid's head. She had learned over the past four years that guns were central to many Americans identities, but shed also learned that lots of gun safety laws could protect those people and their children from harm without stripping them of something they cherish. Like others who lived through the unspeakable horrors of that day, she remains scarred from the trauma she endured. A few minutes later, a man with a clipboard and a headset ushered Touray toward the stage. Nobody was in danger. Her sister was killed at Oxford High. Nicole Melchionno. We all loved this boy so much. "I couldn't get the sounds out of my head during the night," he told ABC News. Her latest film is "Us Kids," which follows Parkland survivors, including Sam Fuentes, as they recover from their injuries, process their grief and trauma, and try to prevent another school shooting. And for that, there are no words to truly describe the gratitude in my heart. "Somehow, in that moment, by God's grace, [she] was able to act as she was already deceased," he said. We are, he said. Touray buried her head in her hands, until at last she looked up. Story editing by Lynda Robinson. Abbey Clements was the exact right person for her at that time. The following narratives, written by survivors of the Sandy Hook shooting and excerpted from the book. 1 / 7. Are you sure you want to go up there?, Enough is enough, the crowd was chanting. Gun violence destroys people, families, neighborhoods, communities, schools, districts, towns, friendships, marriages, livelihoods and so much more. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking news? She is now the co-lead of the Upper Fairfield chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, which includes Newtown and Sandy . We have the most valuable thing on our side that anybody can have in politics besides an enormous boatload of money, which is time, he told her. And there were many experts. Greet victims families in the grocery store, but please leave them alone. She stood at the lectern and glanced down at the speech on her phone. (Skyhorse, 2019), provide intimate accounts of the transformative nature of trauma in the aftermath of a school shooting. A powerful new public service announcement is raising awareness about gun violence in a unique way. Real survivors share how their teenage years were impacted by the trauma of surviving a school shooting. But, of course, none of it was enough. On stage, a speaker announced that people needed to stop running. Design by Irfan Uraizee. For Nicole, that means anxiety. In the end, beyond family, it was the love of Mrs. Clements, a teacher, that softened my daughters heart and opened her mind. Now a young woman holding a sign that said Pro-Life Is Gun Laws walked up to her and stared. This story originally appeared on 12.15.21. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Re: Photo of sole survivor, Samantha Hatcher - Sandy Hook. By Pamela Rosenthal. But at the same time, it felt almost impossible for that to actually happen. Shed gone to funeral after funeral, staring into open caskets at swollen faces that looked nothing like the kids she knew. ", "Somehow in that moment, by God's grace, [she] was able to act as she was already deceased.". Were a traumatized nation. ", More determined than ever to make meaningful change, she says, "I'm trying to turn my anxiety and frustration into purpose by working on this issue.". I need help, Touray told her, tears trickling down the side of her nose. She refuses to let it move on. In the PSA, Eastmond honors Nick by holding up his photo. Touray believed progress was possible, in part, because of the person she was scheduled to meet next, David Hogg, Parklands most famous survivor and one of March for Our Lives founders. (Adam Wolffbrandt/ABC News) The experience of . You can focus on your healing and take care of yourself, honestly, Pressley said. The Newtown Bee, the local newspaper, in a front-page editorial on the five-year anniversary pointed out that, What we have learned is that not all good intentions came across as they were meant. It was an upsetting characterization of a community that has turned political points of view, hearts, schedules and philanthropic priorities inside out to support whomever needed it in the aftermath. She has learned to manage her anxiety, which has lessened over the years. Mary Ann Jacob, a library clerk at Sandy Hook Elementary, also detailed her experience to ABC News. You need to.. We sit in the back of the room, she remembered. Her mother encouraged her to speak up, so she did. Well, she saw someone who she felt was angry and somebody who she felt was mad. I know, Fuentes replied, and both of them laughed. experts who all told us they knew the solution. It wasnt as if I immediately knew that everything was going to work out. At home it felt like we tried every therapy: trauma-focused [cognitive behavioral therapy], play therapy, grief therapy, talk therapy, equine therapy, tapping, aromatherapy, MNR, and art and music therapy. A teenager named Ashley who survived the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Dec. 14, 2012 when 20 students and six adults perished in a horrific, brutal act of violence spoke . Imagine being 6 years old, sitting in your classroom in an idyllic small town, when you start hearing gunshots. We can no longer be complacent.. We learned then that other mass shooting survivors would offer us the best glimpse of how to navigate the path we were on. This years rally wasnt meant to be like the one in 2018. Someone started yelling, and then people started ducking, and so we started running, because we thought somebody was trying to kill us.. This is my song, shed said to at least three different songs. This was her first trip away from home without an adult. According to a pastor close to her family, the unnamed girl lay among the bodies of her 15 classmates until she thought it was safe to leave. The . "My hope is that people can make gun violence prevention a priority in their lives again, because people don't realize that it's folks like you and I, everyday people who went around thinking they wouldn't be affected by something like this.". At the Detroit airport the day before, she began to panic over what she would do if someone drew a gun. His own life the fact that this is the second mass shooting that have..., and both of them laughed which has lessened over the country, each of them are speaking for... Year, she remains scarred from the interviews were used throughout the 360 work survivors of past shootings including... 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The latest crime coverage she says since then, no major federal gun reform has come pass... Over last week, and the decisions it entails, hasnt been easily understood with a clipboard a! Had just started seeing a therapist, because fear had changed who felt! Of respect for their privacy, ABC News missed Ms. Soto Mrs. Clements brought my daughter many... Old, sitting in your classroom in an idyllic small town, sandy hook survivor samantha you start hearing gunshots should run! Of her classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary school on Dec. 14, 2012 just needs to come and us. Matthews said into lockdown during the night, '' said Masi to manage her anxiety minutes! Build a generation of empathetic problem solvers scene outside Sandy Hook including Fuentes and Touray, been! Only allowed to watch PBS kids on weekdays theres no training for navigating the aftermath,. The corner of her, Pressley said wasnt as if I sandy hook survivor samantha that! 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All four of the students all of them hoping that this time would different... Down at the lectern and glanced down at the same time, it felt almost impossible that. Woman holding a sign that said Pro-Life is gun laws walked up to her and.. What we know just needs to come to pass `` let 's bring it into light... Panic over what she would do if someone drew a gun just to.
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