HADEN GROSS
STAFF WRITER
Tragedy Struck New York’s east side this past weekend as rapid gun fire left two dead and fourteen wounded. The teens were attending a house party when the firing began in the early hours of Sep. 19. Sources project there was around a hundred adolescents at the house party when gunshots began. When asking students how they would react to a shooting targeted towards young adults, the response was one of unimaginable fear.
“I would be scared and not know how to react,” said Megan Schreur (’24). “This especially worries me now because I am at college and even though there are not any parties right now, there are still lots of social events where a shooting could happen unexpectedly.”
The victim’s range in ages between 16 and 22. As the city grieves lives of a young man and woman who were killed due to senseless slaughter and the other children wounded. The type of gun used has not yet been identified; however, police report that several rounds of ammunition were fired. The blocks surrounding the crime scene were littered with caution tape as police officers’ attempt to make sense of the crime scene.
“What seems to make the situation more surreal is that kids my age were killed for going to a house party,” said Danielle Dumoulin (’24). “I couldn’t imagine the fear and panic that they must have felt when they heard gunshots ring out.”
When first arriving, NY police described the scene as chaotic, with hundreds of teenagers in varying levels of distress and many in need of immediate assistance due to gun shot wounds according to USA Today.
The victims were sent to Rochester General and Strong Memorial hospitals, in a varying condition. Both hospitals have released little information on the wounded; however, it was gleaned that none of the injuries sustained were fatal. This shooting is one of many that have terrorized Rochester NY in recent years. In 2015, the city fell victim to four shootings that left 6 dead and 18 wounded, making this shooting this year the largest in the city’s history.
“Because I come from a small town, I have never had the ingrained fear that myself or people I know will die and or be subject to a shooting,” said Dumoulin. “I feel so incredibly bad for the teens and young adults who will never have the opportunity to grow up in an environment that is safe.”
Adding to the exponential list of mass shootings that have taken place in America this year, Rochester will mark 455 according to the Gun Violence Archive.
“I think that it is honestly inevitable to prevent people from having access to guns, but I do think that there are measures that could be taken to further prevent incidents like this to happen,” said Schreur.
The community has been in a state of unrest since the death of Daniel Prude, a young African American man who was suffocated to death by police restraint. Police officials ask that the
community joins to bring peace, and put an end to the suffering in Rochester, according to USA Today.
Coupled with the state of unrest in the nation, tragedies are still taking place in small communities. The shooting in Rochester has caught the eye of national and local news, and even students here at Alma. The shooter, motive and victim’s names are still unknown, and as local police work to uncover the truth the city remains in unrest. The loss of two young adults and other wounded children has sparked an even larger cry for peace across America.
