In less than a week, California has experienced three separate, yet equally horrific mass shootings. A recent rash of shootings in Fresno, San Diego and Santa Clarita has shifted an untypical spotlight on California. Gun violence has proven to be a persistent and chronic social issue that has taken a forefront in American politics; as one of the few states with strict gun reform laws, California has always served as an example of socially beneficial gun control. With these mass shootings, the state is now under critical scrutiny.
The most fatal of these shootings occurred on Sunday, Nov. 17 in the small Hmong community residing in Fresno. Witnesses state that on the day, family and friends gathered in a backyard to watch football as two suspects snuck into the backyard and opened fire. Four men were killed in the altercation and six unidentified victims were injured. The Hmong community is a small community of Vietnamese and Thai refugees from Laos. As stated in a CNN interview, both investigators and survivors of the shooting believe that the attack was targeted; Fresno Police Chief Andrew Hall reported on Monday that the shooters were more than likely targeting someone at the residence on Sunday, who had been involved in an altercation earlier that week.
Courtesy: NBC News
Three days earlier, a 16-year-old boy opened fire at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita. According to officials, the teenager pulled out .45 semi-automatic pistol from his backpack on Thursday, Nov. 14, his birthday. The shooting killed two students and injured three others. He later turned the weapon on himself and died shortly after from the injuries. Investigators state that the student put the gun together himself, from a gun kit. No motive has yet to be identified for the shooting.
Courtesy: Mercury News
On Saturday, Nov. 16, five members of a family were killed in an apparent murder-suicide in San Diego. The shooter could not be identified, but one young boy was taken to the hospital. His condition was not released by the press.
Courtesy: Politico
California, which has been championed as one of the key states in propelling stricter gun control policies has now been under fire. Rep. Karen Bass and Democratic Presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Cory Booker commented on the recent rash of shootings, with Harris stating that she was “fed up” with the state of shootings in schools and with Booker stating that the Santa Clarita shooting was “godawful” and a reminder of how “every single day in America, 100 people die from gun violence.” Booker also called for stricter gun control, despite the already restrictive gun control policies already set in place in the Golden State.
Want to see more HCFSU? Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest!