The tragic shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Wednesday has become the nation’s 18th school shooting less than two months into 2018.
As a result, The Huffington Post is reporting that the nation is averaging one school shooting every 60 hours in 2018, according to data compiled by the gun control advocacy organization Everytown for Gun Safety. The organization defines a school shooting as when a firearm is discharged on or around a campus.
This 2018 average is more than double the number of school shootings recorded in the same period during the previous three years.
Police have confirmed that 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former student who was expelled, was the gunman who turned a AR-15 rifle on students and teachers at the high school. He has since been arrested and charged.
Seventeen students and adults have been confirmed dead. Fifteen victims remain in hospital, five of whom are in life-threatening conditions. Although none of the victims names have been released, police has confirmed that a football coach was one of those who died.
Before Thursday, President Trump chose not to speak about the attacks. He, instead, tweeted his “prayers and condolences” to the victims and their families.