As gunshots were heard at Ingraham High School, chaos ensued as a student opened fire. Early morning on November 8th, 2022, a call was placed to emergency services from Ingraham High. One student was rushed off the scene with life-threatening injuries who later passed away. This is just 1 of 14 school shootings in Washington state history. Washington state alone has had 3 of the 14 school shootings in its history declared a mass shooting. 

By October 31st of 2022, there have been 662 mass shootings across the United States. Only 3 of 35 school shootings across the country are categorized as a mass shooting. There is a debate about how to categorize mass shootings, but the consensus is when between two and four people are injured in a public act of violence committed with a gun. This is the effect violence has on schools, kids, administrators, parents, and communities. 2,616 people injured and 671 killed because of these violent acts this year. While tragic, school shootings are nothing new to the United States. Going all the way back to 1764 when the Enoch Brown school massacre took place. On July 26th of 1764 four Native Americans in Delaware came into a schoolhouse and killed the school master, Enoch Brown, along with ten other students. This marked the start of a tragic legacy in the United States. Close to 2,052 school shootings have been committed since they started records in the 1970’s and close to 700 people killed and thousands left heartbroken with communities shattered. 2,616 people injured and 671 killed because of these violent acts this year.  

The most talked-about Washington state school shooting occurred on October 24th, 2014, when freshman Jaylen Fryberg shot 5 students, 4 of whom passed away, before he shot himself. This shook the community of Marysville because Fryberg had been a loved member of the community. He had been on the homecoming court only a week earlier and was involved with his Native American tribe. School was cancelled for the rest of the week and security was increased at local elementary schools along with the middle schools and high schools. 

With the brutality of the Ingraham shooting being nothing new to Washington, students at Ingraham High School organized a walkout, demanding there be more gun control and to protest gun violence. Some students made to the district is about how the district has failed to make school shooter drills a priority since the return from COVID, while others stood outside with signs voicing their opinions to the public. “I participated in the walkout because I think it’s important to fight against gun violence and regulations on gun control, especially in schools,” Ingraham high school student, Meya McCallum said. 

Within the past ten years the violence within schools has increased causing less students to feel safe in a place that is supposed to be protected. Even with school cancelled, it does not stop the damage that has been done. The Seattle public school district made a public comment on their thoughts about this recent cruel action on student’s safety speaking on how they are providing help and support for their staff including counselors, social workers, and how they will be increasing security. “I feel like it’s a start but in the long term, we don’t need extra counselors, we need extra security,” McCallum said. 

Many schools have increased security by adding security guards and security cameras. With these additions to schools, it helps build a safer feeling environment for students. While increasing a safe feeling, many students still don’t feel it’s enough. “When students come here, I want them to feel just as safe as they are at home. If home isn’t that feeling for them, I want being at school to be that safe space for them. When I mean safe, of course I mean physically safe, but also mentally safe. Just like the saying, ‘the hardest wounds to heal are the ones we can’t see’,” SRO Ishmael Weekes said.