NEWTOWN, Conn. — Yesterday, seven people were killed and one wounded in a mass shooting in Half Moon Bay, California and one person was killed and seven people were injured in a mass shooting in Oakland, California. These tragedies follow a weekend of mass shootings in Monterey Park, California, where 10 people were killed and 10 were wounded, and in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where 12 people were injured. Additionally, yesterday afternoon, two students were killed and a staff member was injured during a shooting at Starts Right Here, an educational mentorship program in Des Moines, Iowa. During the first three weeks of 2023, there have been 39 mass shootings, putting the year on track to be the deadliest on record.
In response to the mass shootings, Nicole Hockley, co-founder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise and mother of Dylan, who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, issued the following statement:
“I am heartbroken for the families and loved ones of the people who were murdered or injured in the latest mass shootings. And I am also outraged that, yet again, more lives have been cut short by the epidemic of gun violence. Just under a month into the New Year,and we are already looking at a record number of gun deaths and casualties in 2023, if we continue to allow the epidemic of gun violence to keep spreading at this rate.
“Gun violence must be stopped now. Every day we wait means more people will die. I call on every American to help prevent the next shooting. I ask you to join together — in every city and town across the nation — to turn our collective trauma, grief, and frustration into action.
“Undisputed research proves that gun violence is preventable when we know the warning signs and do something to get help. Every youth and adult needs to learn the signs and how to intervene. And this awareness must be supported with appropriate legislation. Simple policy actions — like background checks for all gun sales, requiring secure storage, enforcing magazine limits for firearms, and implementing extreme risk protection orders — are proven to save lives. We demand that legislators pass these sensible remedies now — before another life is taken by gun violence.
“When the headlines fade, we, as individuals, must keep up the pressure and continue to demand action to prevent gun violence. We owe these actions to every victim of gun violence.”
###
Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) envisions a future where all children are free from school shootings and other acts of violence. As a national nonprofit organization, SHP’s mission is to educate and empower youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities. Creators of the life-saving, evidence-informed “Know the Signs” prevention programs, SHP teaches the warning signs of someone who may be in crisis, socially isolated, or at-risk of hurting themselves or others and how to get help. SHP also advances school safety, youth mental health, and responsible gun ownership at the state and federal levels through nonpartisan policy and partnerships. SHP is led by several family members whose loved ones were killed in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.
Media Contact:
Aimee Thunberg | [email protected] | 646-761-5579