A student at a Nevada middle school opened fire with a semi-automatic handgun on campus just before the starting bell Monday, wounding two 12-year-old boys and killing a math teacher who was trying to protect children from their classmate.
The unidentified shooter killed himself with the gun after a rampage that occurred in front of 20 to 30 horrified students who had just returned to school from a weeklong fall break. Authorities did not provide a motive for the shooting, and it’s unknown where the student got the gun.
Teacher Michael Landsberry was being hailed for his actions outside Sparks Middle School during the shooting.
“In my estimation, he is a hero. ... We do know he was trying to intervene,” Reno Deputy Police Chief Tom Robinson said.
Both wounded students were listed in stable condition. One was shot in the shoulder, and the other was hit in the abdomen.
The violence erupted nearly a year after a gunman shocked the nation by opening fire in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., leaving 26 dead. The Dec. 14 shooting ignited debate over how best to protect the nation’s schools and whether armed teachers should be part of that equation.
Landsberry, 45, was a military veteran and leaves behind a wife and two stepdaughters. Sparks Mayor Geno Martini said Landsberry served two tours in Afghanistan with the Nevada National Guard.
On his school website, Landsberry posted a picture of a brown bear and took on a tough-love tone, telling students, “I have one classroom rule and it is very simple: ‘Thou Shall Not Annoy Mr. L.’”
“The kids loved him,” his sister-in-law Chanda Landsberry said.
She added his life could be summed up by his love of his family, his students and his country.
“To hear that he was trying to stop that is not surprising by any means,” she said.
Police said 150 to 200 officers responded to the shooting, including some from as far as 60 miles away. Students from the middle school and neighboring elementary school were evacuated to the nearby high school, and classes were canceled. The middle school will remain closed for the week.
“As you can imagine, the best description is chaos,” Robinson said. “It’s too early to say whether he was targeting people or going on an indiscriminate shooting spree.”
At the evacuation center, parents comforted their children.
“We came flying down here to get our kids,” said Mike Fiorica, whose nephew attends the school. “You can imagine how parents are feeling. You don’t know if your kid’s OK.”
The shooting happened on the school’s campus and ended outside the school building, according to police.
“I was deeply saddened to learn of the horrific shooting at Sparks Middle School this morning,” Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said in a statement extending his thoughts and prayers to those affected.
About 700 students in 7th and 8th grades are enrolled at the school, in a working class neighborhood.
“It’s not supposed to happen here,” Chanda Landsberry said. “We’re just Sparks — little Sparks, Nevada. It’s unreal.”
A statement from Nicole Hockley, whose son Dylan was killed in the Connecticut shooting, appeared on the website of gun control advocacy group Sandy Hook Promise. “It’s moments like this that demand that we unite as parents to find commonsense solutions that keep our children — all children — safe, and prevent these tragedies from happening again and again,” the statement said.
The Washoe County School District held a session in the spring in light of the Newtown tragedy to educate parents on its safety measures. The district has its own 38-officer police department. No officers were on campus at the time of the shooting.
Sparks, a city of roughly 90,000 that sprung out of the railway industry, is just east of Reno.
美国内华达州一中学10月21日发生枪击案，一名男生在校园用手枪开枪，致两名12岁的男孩受伤，一名试图保护学生的数学老师身亡。
事件发生在当地时间清晨7:16分，离第一堂课还有15分钟。枪手随后开枪自杀身亡，身份未明。枪击现场，20多名惊慌失措的学生四处奔逃，他们刚结束为期一周的秋假返回学校，没想到竟遇上如此可怕的一幕。目前，当局没有提供作案动机，也不清楚凶手从何处获得枪支。
一名13岁的八年级学生凯尔告诉雷诺市一家报纸称，他听到了6声枪响。另一名学生埃尔南德斯说事发前她曾见过凶手，“我听到他说‘你们为什么嘲笑我，取笑我。’”
"一个男孩开始变得有点疯狂，他拿出枪朝我的朋友开枪。”一名目击事件经过的7年级学 生安德鲁·汤普森说，“然后他走近一位老师，叫他退后，当老师开始后退时他扣动了扳机。我和其他5个人打算把中枪后的老师带到安全地方，然后我们的副校长 来了，叫我们赶快跑到安全的地方。”
教师迈克尔·兰茨贝里（Michael Landsberry）在枪击案期间表现英勇，受到公众称赞。“在我看来，他是个英雄。我们知道他试图阻止这一切。”雷诺市警察局副局长汤姆·罗宾逊说。
今年45岁的兰茨贝里是名退役军人，身后留下妻子和两个继女。斯帕克斯市市长吉诺・马蒂尼称他曾两次赴阿富汗服役。在学校网站的简介上，他以严厉而慈爱的口吻对学生说：“我有一条规则，很简单，那就是‘不要惹恼兰茨贝里先生’。”学校的孩子们都很喜欢他。
受伤的2名学生一人被射中肩膀，一人腹部中枪，目前状况稳定。
警方称，有近200名警员紧急出动应对此次枪击，有些系从60英里外调过来，联邦调查局和美国国土安全部正协助调查。事发学校和周围小学的学生被疏散到邻近的高中，学校也已停课。斯帕克斯中学预计本周都将保持关闭。
在疏散中心，父母不断安慰自己的孩子。“我们迅速赶来这里接孩子，你知道此刻父母的心情，我们不知道孩子有没有事。”迈克·菲奥里卡说，他的侄子在该中学上学。
罗宾逊表示，关于枪手是否是刻意针对人群还是随意扫射，还不能过早下定论。警方称，枪击事件发生在校园操场，但是在校外结束。
内华达州州长布赖恩·桑多瓦尔发表声明说：“对于今晨斯帕克斯中学发生的可怕枪击事件，我感到非常悲伤。”
斯帕克斯市市长马蒂尼说：“我想重申，这座城市本身非常安全，这是一起孤立事件，但非常不幸。”
斯帕克斯位于雷诺市东部，由于铁路行业发展迅速，该市约有9万人口。事发学校地处工薪阶层的小区，登记入学的7年级和8年级学生约有700名。
尼科尔·霍克利的儿子死于1年前的康州校园枪击案，他在控枪团体“桑迪·胡克的承诺 （Sandy Hook Promise）”的网站上发声明说：“在这样的时刻，需要作为父母的我们团结起来，找到常识性的方案，能让我们的孩子在安全的环境下成长，阻止此类悲剧 一次又一次地发生。”
2012年12月14日，美国康州纽顿桑迪·胡克小学发生校园枪击事件，导致26人死亡，震惊全美。该案引发人们关于如何最好地保卫学校安全，以及是否应鼓励教师持枪的激烈争论。