Yesterday, on March 20th at 8:15 am, headlines sang a melancholy tune we’ve heard too many times before: shots were fired at an active High School.

At Great Mills High School in Maryland, a 17 year old student named Austin Wyatt Rollins attended school armed with a gun. He critically injured a female in the hallway before the school resource officer confronted him. He was thought to have had relations with the 16 year old girl previously. Shots were fired between the student and officer, injuring 2 students in the surrounding area.

A 14 and 16 year old were rushed to the hospital, the 14 year old boy is stable while the 16 year old girl is in critical condition. The St. Mary County Sheriff Department has not clarified if Rollins was shot by the school officer or accidentally shot himself. He was deemed critically injured on site. He was announced dead at 10:41 am.

Months before this incident a school shooting threat was reported, and all parents and students were notified. It was investigated and addressed.

Witnesses believe the situation was handled well and followed protocol 

As this follows the tragic occurrence in Parkland Florida on February 14th, this issue may have been slowed down due to more safety regulations implemented. However a life was still lost, and children just like us here at Hammonton High School were injured.

(Note: The Devils’ Advocate has made a commitment to keep the student body updated on such matters so that we can continue to work and take efforts to prevent them from happening again.)