Shooting at My Nephew's School
Yesterday there was a school shooting at my nephew's school. My nephew was texting Jim from the classroom where he and a few other students were hiding. As my nephew was texting Jim, Jim was texting me the updates.
"The Principal is Dead"
"Three people have been killed"
"We are hiding in a classroom"
"The shooter is dead, he either killed himself or the police shot him, not sure"
All I could think about was that the Principal's wife sent him to work yesterday and expected him home for dinner.... My nephew is crouched in a classroom wondering if the shooter is coming for him....Who else was shot....This could happen at my kid's school and there would be nothing I could do about it....What was this kid so damn upset about that he had to try kill people? When will this end? What is going on in this world?
And then I went to the grocery store.
I didn't even try and call my sister-in-law as I am sure she was getting calls from everyone, and I know from my own experience, one more phone call doesn't make anything better. How helpless she must have felt. How scary, how insanely scary.
The murderer was 17-year-old Robert Butler Jr., the son of an Omaha police detective. Police located Butler's red Honda they were looking for about 40 minutes after the shooting in a parking lot, about a mile away from the school. Butler was found dead inside the car. The boy killed himself. They believe the boy used his father's gun to do the shootings.
This is a message the killer posted on his Facebook page before the killings:
“Everybody that used to know me, I'm sorry but Omaha changed me and the school I now attend is even worse. You're going to hear about the evil I did, but that school drove me to this. I want you guys to remember me for who I was before this. I greatly affected the lives of the families ruined, but I'm sorry. Goodbye.”
What takes a kid from angry, to killer? What makes a kid believe that he can trash a football field with his car, get suspended, and then the only option is to kill?
So far one administrator is dead, she died last night. The principal and another administrator are both in critical condition. They may also die for doing their job, for following their school handbook and for holding this kid responsible for this wrong doing. How sad.
How sad this kid was so upset, so distraught that he felt his only option was to walk into a school and shoot everyone, then kill himself.
Where are we failing our children? How can we prevent these senseless acts?
I have no answers. For now I think the best thing to do is be aware of our own children and our children's friends.
Jim text my nephew as he hid in a classroom yesterday.
"Don't be a hero. You run if you have to, jump out the window, get away, but don't be a hero."
I agree. But we need to be a hero to our children. We need to pay attention if they are having troubles, take them to counselors if we see them struggling, get them help if they seem distant and agitated and we need to be involved. We can't just send them to the basement to play video games, serve them their dinner in front of the TV and not know what is happening in their lives.
Being a parent is almost impossible, but this is the contract we signed when we decided to have children. In sickness and in health, till death do us part, through sassyness, irritability, crappy attitudes and smart mouths. We are to be there, present, involved, RELENTLESS in our quest to help, to be there, to never walking away....no matter what.
A child will be who he or she will be, but it is our job to chip, mold, push, hold and refine until they are grown, even if we are ready to lose our minds. So at the very least, when all is said and done, we can look in the mirror and honestly say we did everything we could. We never gave up and we did our best.
Can you say that?
I don't know anything about Robert Butler, Jr. I don't know anything about his family. But I do know one thing, he had access to his father's gun and now two people are dead. So very, very sad.
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"The Principal is Dead"
"Three people have been killed"
"We are hiding in a classroom"
"The shooter is dead, he either killed himself or the police shot him, not sure"
All I could think about was that the Principal's wife sent him to work yesterday and expected him home for dinner.... My nephew is crouched in a classroom wondering if the shooter is coming for him....Who else was shot....This could happen at my kid's school and there would be nothing I could do about it....What was this kid so damn upset about that he had to try kill people? When will this end? What is going on in this world?
And then I went to the grocery store.
I didn't even try and call my sister-in-law as I am sure she was getting calls from everyone, and I know from my own experience, one more phone call doesn't make anything better. How helpless she must have felt. How scary, how insanely scary.
The murderer was 17-year-old Robert Butler Jr., the son of an Omaha police detective. Police located Butler's red Honda they were looking for about 40 minutes after the shooting in a parking lot, about a mile away from the school. Butler was found dead inside the car. The boy killed himself. They believe the boy used his father's gun to do the shootings.
This is a message the killer posted on his Facebook page before the killings:
“Everybody that used to know me, I'm sorry but Omaha changed me and the school I now attend is even worse. You're going to hear about the evil I did, but that school drove me to this. I want you guys to remember me for who I was before this. I greatly affected the lives of the families ruined, but I'm sorry. Goodbye.”What takes a kid from angry, to killer? What makes a kid believe that he can trash a football field with his car, get suspended, and then the only option is to kill?
So far one administrator is dead, she died last night. The principal and another administrator are both in critical condition. They may also die for doing their job, for following their school handbook and for holding this kid responsible for this wrong doing. How sad.
How sad this kid was so upset, so distraught that he felt his only option was to walk into a school and shoot everyone, then kill himself.
Where are we failing our children? How can we prevent these senseless acts?
I have no answers. For now I think the best thing to do is be aware of our own children and our children's friends.
Jim text my nephew as he hid in a classroom yesterday.
"Don't be a hero. You run if you have to, jump out the window, get away, but don't be a hero."
I agree. But we need to be a hero to our children. We need to pay attention if they are having troubles, take them to counselors if we see them struggling, get them help if they seem distant and agitated and we need to be involved. We can't just send them to the basement to play video games, serve them their dinner in front of the TV and not know what is happening in their lives.
Being a parent is almost impossible, but this is the contract we signed when we decided to have children. In sickness and in health, till death do us part, through sassyness, irritability, crappy attitudes and smart mouths. We are to be there, present, involved, RELENTLESS in our quest to help, to be there, to never walking away....no matter what.
A child will be who he or she will be, but it is our job to chip, mold, push, hold and refine until they are grown, even if we are ready to lose our minds. So at the very least, when all is said and done, we can look in the mirror and honestly say we did everything we could. We never gave up and we did our best.
Can you say that?
I don't know anything about Robert Butler, Jr. I don't know anything about his family. But I do know one thing, he had access to his father's gun and now two people are dead. So very, very sad.
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Mer,
ReplyDeleteI cannot begin to tell you how I felt this day. The worst came to me when I entered a church where hundreds of parents were waiting in silence with pain on there faces. There was little conversation except quiet calls and texts on phones..fully armed sharp shooters on the scene..so frightening. Colin had called me that day to say he was okay but until I saw him with a mothers eyes I was rattled. All parents should have a conversation with their children about if a "CODE" or lockdown is called in their school..what would they do..would they follow the directions given or try to be the HERO..Colin and many of his freinds were 25 feet from the crime scene in an open cafeteria..they thought a fight broke out so they were headed down the hall to check it out..thankfully they were stopped by a principal and told to return to the cafeteria to be locked down. This news and Colins initial phone call is when my heart may have skipped a few beats. We are so blessed he was okay..but no school is above this violence and when two 15 yr old boys are explaining to me the level of security they have for 2000 kids it is scary. Colin actually said to me how he felt so vulnerable that day.Better security may have not changed the actions of Robert Butler but it might of saved a life.We attended a vigil or two and are contributing to the scholarship fund that will be set up in Dr. Kaspars name. The head principal has returned home and is still recovering. The community of Millard and the city's outpouring has been amazing.