Mass Shootings and Teen Dating Violence

May 22, 2018 | Domestic Violence News

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence Mourns with Santa Fe, Texas Community
Denver, CO / Washington, D.C. — The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence mourns with Santa Fe high school and their communities in the wake of another school shooting.

A mother of one of the victims has come forward and revealed that her daughter, 16-year-old Shana Fisher, was targeted by the shooter after repeatedly rejecting him.

Shana Fisher, “had 4 months of problems from this boy,” her mother, Sadie Rodriguez wrote in a private message to the Los Angeles Times
on Facebook. “He kept making advances on her and she repeatedly told
him no.” (Source)

This culminated one week prior to the shooting, when Fisher stood up to the shooter publicly. Now she’s dead, along with nine others and thirteen more injured.

In the LA Time article, cited above, the potential violence directed at the victim came directly after comments describing the shooter as “a smart, quiet, sweet boy.” Similar comments have been made of other white male mass shooters, including at the Parkland and Great Mills high school shootings. These characterizations diminish the violence these individuals unleash on their communities and the nation at large. Journalists and the media are responsible for the narratives they create, and how they frame their stories has an impact. We must accurately and knowledgeably describe these events for the root of what they are – violence against women. Too often, we frame these incidents as just mass shootings or we ascribe that the shooter was spurned or lovesick. We must be careful that we not inadvertently (or blatantly) blame the victim for these crimes.

This is the 3rd known school shooting related to dating violence so far in 2018:
2/14/18 in Parkland, Florida
3/20/18 in Great Mills, Maryland
5/18/18 in Santa Fe, Texas

“Once again, we have a tragic ending for a young person because another young person had access to a firearm and he needed to exert his control over the victim,” said Ruth M. Glenn, President and CEO of NCADV. “It is appalling that we are still dealing with the deadly intersection of guns and domestic violence. We are losing too many lives as a result. We must take action by understanding that the root of most of the mass shootings are the result of a loss of power or control combined with easy access to firearms.”

We implore you to recognize and call it what it is as this will enable all of us to address this and intervene, hopefully to stop these crimes from happening ,in our schools, our workplaces and our homes. Women (and all) have a right to say no to any act of which they choose not to participate, without fear of reprisal or death.

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