On Wednesday, September 28th, 14-year-old Jesse Osborne shot two students and one teacher on the playground at Townville Elementary in upstate South Carolina before being tackled and disarmed by a volunteer firefighter on campus and taken into police custody.

Four days after the shooting, kindergarten student, Jacob Hall passed away due to brain damage from excessive blood loss. The funeral was held on Wednesday, October 5. In order to honor and remember what their son loved, the Halls invited those who attended the funeral to dress in superhero costumes. Chapin High School principal, Dr. Ross, encouraged Chapin High School students to also wear superhero attire to school the day of the funeral.

Since Columbine in 1999, school shootings have become a more frequent issue among schools nationwide. With this recent incident happening a few counties away, Chapin High School students and teachers discuss the impact that this shooting has on the school and community.

Chapin High School teacher, Ms. Huckabee, says “I think any time there’s a school shooting, it makes you, as a teacher and hopefully as a student, become more aware of just how at risk we all are when it comes to personal safety. I think it brings to light that every school needs a resource officer (SRO). Hopefully it puts us at a height sense in terms of our awareness of safety.”

Chapin’s SRO, Officer Catoe responded to the recent shooting by saying, “The ideal school would be one with no windows and one door. One in and one out so everyone could be controlled. But you guys are pretty safe here.”

Preventing similar tragedies is something that all students can participate in. In order to ensure safety at Chapin High School, students wear IDs, school doors are kept locked, video cameras are used, and two resource officers protect the campus.

“If you see people that seem out of place… let us know as soon as possible. Often when people do these types of things they’re are warning signs,” said Vice Principal, Mr. Wise. “It’s important that we not ignore them. Even if you have students around the school who seem a little off, I think it’s good to come to guidance or an administrator and tell them they seem to be having a rough time… It’s when people feel alone and like they have nothing to lose that they do those types of things,” he said.

According to administrator, Coach Stogner, it is imperative that students, “be diligent and aware of your surroundings. Speak to an administrator or a teacher if you know someone that might have something they should not for the safety of us all. Obviously, wear your ID’s so that we know you belong here. Just be diligent. If you hear rumors, give them to us. We’ll handle things from there.”