Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Some MSU Students Have Now Survived 2 Shootings, Including At Sandy Hook
The New York Times: Elementary School. High School. Now College. Michigan State Students Are No Strangers to Mass Shootings
For a generation of young Americans, mass shootings at schools or colleges once considered sanctuaries for learning have become so painfully routine that some of them have lived through more than one by their early 20s. People a few years older grew up with active shooter drills. Their younger counterparts have become repeat survivors of traumatic violence. Even those who may not have lived through shootings themselves often know people who have. Being keenly aware of the possibility of gun violence has become a trademark of the generation of adults who grew up after the Columbine High School attack of 1999, which left 12 students and one teacher dead and reshaped how Americans viewed mass shootings. (Bosman, Lada, Tully and Mazzei, 2/14)
CNN: ‘Reliving Oxford All Over Again.’ Some MSU Students And Parents Endure Second Mass Shooting In 15 Months
Some Michigan State University students who survived Monday’s mass shooting – and their parents – had already been through a similar, horrific experience. “I never expected in my lifetime to have to experience two school shootings,” Andrea Ferguson told CNN affiliate WDIV. “There’s several kids there that our daughter’s friends with that are going through the same thing.” Ferguson told the station her daughter and other classmates were also survivors of the November 30, 2021, shooting at Oxford High School, which is about 80 miles northeast of the MSU campus in East Lansing. (Sanchez, 2/14)
The Washington Post: Oxford High Student Survives Second Shooting At Michigan State
Emma Riddle had felt this fear before. It was just past 8:30 Monday night, and the freshman at Michigan State University was in her dorm room, staring at an email on her phone. Shots had been fired on campus. “Secure-in-Place immediately,” it read. “Run, Hide, Fight.” Emma, 18, took a screenshot and texted it to her parents. “I’m sorry babe,” her dad, Matt Riddle, wrote back. “Let’s hope it is nothing.” His daughter called a few minutes later. It wasn’t nothing. (Cox, 2/14)
Detroit Free Press: Michigan State University Student: I Survived Sandy Hook, Now This Shooting
More than a decade has passed since Jackie Matthews survived the Sandy Hook shooting, crouched down in her sixth grade class in a different school in the district as students were directed to shelter in place. The Michigan State University senior relived that moment on Monday night, she said in a TikTok video posted at 1 a.m. Tuesday. This time, Matthews said in the video that she was in a building directly across from where some of the shootings occurred at MSU."I am 21 years old and this is the second mass shooting that I have now lived through," she said. In the video, Matthews said she had crouched for so long in her classroom on Dec. 14, 2012, that she was injured in her lower back, an injury that flares up when she's in a stressful situation. That shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, left 26 people dead, 20 children and six adults. (Altavena, 2/14)
More details on the MSU shooting —
The Washington Post: MSU Shooter’s Motive Unknown; He Had Note Threatening N.J. Schools
Authorities on Tuesday said they still had no explanation for why a gunman opened fire on Michigan State University’s campus the previous night, killing three students, severely wounding five more and spreading terror across yet another school community shaken by an act of gun violence. Police said the gunman, whom they identified as 43-year-old Anthony Dwayne McRae, had no apparent connections to the university where he shot people in two campus buildings Monday night, setting off an hours-long manhunt that forced thousands to shelter in place. The gunman then shot and killed himself, police said, betraying no clear reason for targeting the school in East Lansing. (Khan, Berman, Bella and Brulliard, 2/14)
The Washington Post: Shock, Concern Over Text That Encouraged MSU Students To ‘Run, Hide, Fight’
On social media, many expressed shock and concern over the recommended course of action. The gunman killed three people at the university and critically injured five others before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. ... Yet the “Run, Hide, Fight” guidance is not specific to the Michigan campus — it is part of a program developed by the U.S. government and taught across the country. It was created by the Department of Homeland Security and promoted by the FBI and other federal bodies. (Bisset and Hassan, 2/14)
The Washington Post: Michigan Democrats Pushed For Stronger Gun Laws Before MSU Shooting
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) chastised state lawmakers in her recent State of the State address for not taking action on gun-control laws after four students were killed in a mass killing at Oxford High School in November 2021.Just 19 days later, Whitmer choked back tears during a news conference Tuesday morning after a mass shooting in the state ended the lives of three Michigan State University students and wounded several more. (Itkowitz, 2/14)
In related news from Uvalde, Texas —
The Texas Tribune: Texas Lawmakers Representing Uvalde Fight An Uphill Battle On Gun Limits
As a new legislative session kicks into gear, Tracy King is working on a bill that would increase the age limit to buy semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. The Uvalde gunman had tried to get at least two people to buy him firearms before he turned 18. Days after his 18th birthday, he purchased two AR-15-style rifles before invading the school and targeting students and teachers. In August, Uvalde residents and relatives of the shooting victims protested at the Capitol, calling on lawmakers to raise the age limit to buy the kind of firearms the Robb Elementary gunman used. (Serrano, 2/15)
