On Tuesday morning at 7:55 am, shots were fired at Great Mills High School in St. Mary’s county, Maryland. 17 year-old, Austin Wyatt Rollins, entered the school with an illegally procured Glock semiautomatic handgun which he used to shoot one 14 year-old student and another 16 year-old student, the latter of whom is a member of the school’s swim team: Jaelynn Willey.
While the 14 year-old victim’s condition has been described as “good” by local news and authorities, Willey is currently in critical condition with life-threatening injuries at UM Prince George’s Hospital Center and the shooter has been declared deceased.
In February, the St. Mary’s Sherriff’s office was engaged in an investigation of a shooting threat at Great Mills that had been broadcasted via Snapchat. The shooting on Tuesday ironically took place 6 days after the student body’s own gun control walkout and 4 days before the nationwide March For Our Lives, a protest organized by the Parkland survivors and advocated for by dozens of celebrities. Governor Larry Hogan (R) addressed the situation offering his prayers for the families affected by the act of domestic terrorism, while reminding the American public that prayers are “not enough”; that action will continue to be quintessential in securing changes.
According to Sherriff Tim Cameron, there is an indication of a “prior relationship” between Willey and the shooter, although friends and family members of Wiley have said that they find it hard to believe that the notoriously maternal and compassionate second-of-nine children could be an intentional target of such violence. Regardless, an investigation is underway.
Jaelynn Willey is a junior at Great Mills and competes for her school as well as Great Mills Aquatic Club.
Willey’s uncle provided a family statement regarding the tragic incident, “This morning, our family was devastated to learn that our beautiful Jaelynn was one of the victims in a school shooting at her high school, Great Mills.” A YouCaring fundraising page has been set up on behalf of Jaelynn Willey in order to aid the family in covering her medical bills. Those looking to reach out are encouraged to make donations to the link below.
In February, one of the 17 people shot and killed at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida was Nick Dworet, a member of the swim team and a commit to the University of Indianapolis.
She’s being taken off life support.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-great-mills-victim-willey-update-20180322-story.html
Rest In Peace, Jaelynn.
We are Praying and pulling for you Jaeylynn! Love UMBC SWIMMING AND DIVING
As someone who is not American, I find the whole issue of gun control very difficult to wrap my head around. I don’t understand how mass shooting after mass shooting doesn’t cause change in the laws surrounding guns and the ease at which they can be purchased. I’m not saying that I know what the answer should be, I’m just surprised there isn’t more recognition and discussion about the problem.
I wish the very best to Jaelynn and hope she recovers fully from this tragedy.
I have pretty strong opinions on whether or not we need to reform gun control, but this isn’t the place for that.
My heart goes out to the victim and her family. Stories like this, where the victim is someone like me (and most of the people who visit this site), show that this can happen to anybody.
Here is to a strong recovery!
What is the place, though? I know a swimming website isn’t really the first place people come for Hot Gun Takes, but can’t really get more directly related to gun control than a post about someone that got shot. If the Parkland kids have taught us anything – and they’ve taught us a lot – it’s that there isn’t any right or wrong place to demand action.
And reading “Stories like this, where the victim is someone like me (and most of the people who visit this site), show that this can happen to anybody” made me rethink that yes, this can happen to anybody. Unless we get rid of all the guns. Then it won’t!
So sad – one person sending good wishes to the victim out of the 20 who have commented. The rest just trolling and arguing amongst themselves. KEEP FIGHTING JAELYNN!!
Yeah, but what’s more likely to actually do something for the next kid – that we added our “thoughts and prayers” down here or that we be like, hey, we should do something about this.
I feel it almost goes without saying that we all want her to recover, so just adding “good luck, best wishes!” would feel really hollow.
Since you have it all figured out, spend some time working to make it happen and quit wasting time commenting on a swimming discussion board.
Maybe I convinced like, one other person that “no one should have guns.” And that’d be cool!
Also, glad I can count on your vote! Nolan / SwimDad 2024
I remember one shotgun death in Baton Rouge was caused by an argument by 2 guys over a BBQ chikken . Apparently there was an agreement about the legs which was broken & the errant leg eater got shot dead . Ok you think if they did not have a gun…..
Today I read in Qld where there was an argument over an empty bacon packet & the man punched his partner in the head until she died then hid her body for 7 years .. No gun as laws are stricter than Louisiana but a lot more thought & wilful actions . The result is the same .
Glad the “Good Guy With a Gun” narrative played out the way it’s supposed to this time. Unfortunately, this will be seized upon by some as evidence that the system is working as intended, while the fact of the matter is that it just as often ends up with bystanders shot by the Good Guy™, if he doesn’t freeze under pressure.
Even trained soldiers and police officers panic and/or freeze in combat situations. In an indoor setting, with chaos all around, you’re potentially looking at dozens of innocent people running around, with one baddie. Even if you can keep your calm, that’s a tough setup. Then consider that you probably don’t have great cover and your line-of-sight might be interrupted.… Read more »
It’s really important to note this good guy with a gun was a police officer you know it’s kind of his job
Yes, and it’s also important to note that the average combat accuracy of police is about 18% (see my reply to joebagodonuts, below).
When the Christopher Dorner manhunt was underway, LAPD mistakenly identified a pickup truck (totally different make and color from the one they were looking for) and shot at it 103 times. The two women inside, thankfully, survived, but it says something about the police involved that they were unable to make a kill with 103 shots. Some of those shots didn’t even hit the truck, they hit the houses around it. Dorner was specifically targeting police, so these cops were on edge and made a colossal mistake in the moment.
There’s this example, where two cops… Read more »
Well, you certainly have an active imagination – coming up with all of the things that COULD go wrong – except none of them did in this case. The officer shot the nut-job. The nut-job is dead. Not sure where you get your “it just as often ends up with bystanders shot by the good guy” claim, but it sure sounds authoritative and it certainly helps you make your point.
I’ll just leave these here for you:
https://www.myajc.com/blog/get-schooled/gunfights-trained-officers-have-percent-hit-rate-yet-want-arm-teachers/mDBlhDtV6Na4wJVpeu58cM/
http://nation.time.com/2013/09/16/ready-fire-aim-the-science-behind-police-shooting-bystanders/
How!?!? How does a 17 year old get a gun in the first place!?
“Procured illegally”
very informative
He probably went to some wallmart and buying for 5$
Could have been a parent’s
Like any other person with bad intentions…they find a way.
Oh wait, I thought you have to be 21 and older?
How do 17 year-olds get beer? Drugs? Apparently, simply having laws doesn’t guarantee that those who don’t feel constrained by them will comply.
Illegally