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The recent rash of student-involved shootings in North Texas has left families rattled and some school districts scrambling to assuage them. Yet this spate of violence hasn’t drawn national attention, in part because these shootings appear to be targeted, involving only a couple of students. One student at Arlington ISD’s Bowie High School was killed, but the victims in the other two incidents in Dallas are expected to recover, including two students injured off campus in a drive-by shooting.
Parents and students in the affected districts are owed detailed answers about how students were able to sneak guns into school. But while heightened safety measures have become necessary, these shootings should also drive home the point that simply “hardening” campuses can’t fix a culture of violence fueled by easy access to guns and an addiction to social media.
School violence is just a fact of American life, almost as commonplace as tests, football and prom. In the 2021-22 school year, 61% of public schools recorded at least one physical fight or attack without a weapon. About 4% of schools — that’s 3,700 campuses — reported at least one attack with a weapon.
That data comes from the latest federal survey on school crime and safety by the National Center for Education Statistics. It captures only violence that happens in school, though some conflicts follow students off campus.
Gun use in school is also on the rise, even as it remains rare. Everytown, a gun-safety advocacy group, logged 51 incidents of guns discharged on school grounds across the U.S. in 2013, the first year it began tracking that data. Last year, it recorded 137 incidents and 42 deaths.
Things are looking bad this year, too. As of last week, Everytown’s database had tallied 63 incidents of gunfire and 24 dead as a result.
School fights are not what they were when we were growing up. Many of them are filmed with cellphones and often end up on TikTok or Snapchat, where they are shared for social currency.
Meanwhile, lawmakers at the state and federal level have not just resisted passing sensible gun-safety laws — think universal background checks — but they have also made it easier for anyone to carry a firearm. Texas joined several other states in passing permitless carry three years ago.
Texas state legislators have pushed through a spate of school safety regulations in recent years. Among the requirements are having an armed guard at every school, installing panic buttons in classrooms and training certain district employees to recognize students who need mental health support.
Texans can keep trying to fortify their schools even more, but the violence won’t stop at the school doors. We have to send our children out into the world, and we cannot enclose them in a protective bubble. We’ll continue to fail them as long as we focus on hardening schools while leaving untouched this country’s culture of violence and a gun-rights absolutism that enable each other in a nasty loop.
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AUSTIN, Texas — Severe thunderstorms that moved through Central Texas Tuesday night left behind downed trees, power outages, and damage across parts of the area.
Scenes from the storms showed powerful winds, heavy rain, and frequent lightning moving through the region.
In Georgetown, damage could be seen at a gas station where Chalmer Williams took shelter as the storm moved through.
“If you see the video, the cashier who was in front of me was trying to signal people to come inside,” Williams said. “Luckily, she lets me in, and in my mind I’m thinking ‘man, maybe this isn’t just a thunderstorm,’” he said.
As conditions worsened, Williams said he became more concerned about what was happening outside.
“Especially when the roof of the gas station started to come off, I’m like ‘man, maybe I’m in the middle of a tornado and don’t even know it,’” Williams said.
Meteorologists say the storms were strong, but also fairly well predicted.
“The storm moved into the Austin area and the I-35 corridor right at 9 o’clock, and that was basically what time the model suggested would happen,” said Troy Kimmel, an incident response meteorologist.
RELATED| Severe thunderstorms cause widespread power outages, downed trees across Central Texas
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The storms quickly caused problems across the area.
Off Barton Springs Road in Austin, a man was critically injured after a tree fell on him outside Green Mesquite BBQ. The restaurant was closed on Wednesday.
At one point, more than 5,400 Austin Energy customers were without power. Most people have since had their power restored.
Kimmel said straight-line winds can sometimes cause more widespread damage than people realize.
“The straight lines wind do what? They spread out, and they can cause more damage over a wider area. It can affect utilities, bring down trees, and, of course, the power lines over a wider area,” Kimmel said.
On Berry Creek Drive, the ground underneath part of the roadway was washed away, creating additional traffic issues tied to the weather.
With more rain chances in the forecast this week, meteorologists are urging Central Texans to stay weather aware.
For Williams, the experience was a reminder that safety comes first during severe weather.
“There’s going to be hardships, and sometimes we just want to fight through it like I was on I-35,” Williams said. “The best answer is to seek refuge, to seek safety, to seek comfort, and then when it’s time, get back out there and fight.”
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — A fifth person has died after a deadly wrong-way crash involving multiple vehicles in Sabine Pass, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Troopers said 22-year-old Caleb Burge, who was rushed to a Beaumont hospital after the accident on Monday afternoon, succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday.
ORIGINAL REPORT: 4 killed in multi-vehicle crash in Sabine Pass, according to Department of Public Safety
Four other people were declared dead at the scene immediately following the wreck, including 28-year-old Cesar Rojas, 27-year-old Emmanuel Reynosa Rivas, 28-year-old Angel Dominguez, and 27-year-old Osvaldo Alvarez.
At least seven others were taken to area hospitals after the crash involving a Chevy van, Prevost bus and Audi sedan. Investigators said the van crossed into the oncoming lane and crashed into the bus. After the impact, the van went into a ditch, and the Audi hit the rear of the bus, investigators said.
Troopers did not release additional details, and the crash is still under investigation.
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