More and more often we have been hearing about unspeakable tragedies that take place all across the country. We cannot fall into the mindset that “something like that could never happen to us,” but we also cannot overreact and take too much precaution for a circumstance that is more than likely not going to take place every time we leave the comfort of our own homes.
On Thursday, August 23, while two West Virginia University students were sitting in their class at the Health Sciences Center, WVU student Zachary Johnson allegedly said, “I honestly just feel like going home and getting my gun and killing everybody.” A few minutes later he allegedly said, “I seriously just feel like doing a mass shooting.”
Zachary Johnson is a 21-year-old West Virginia University student who is originally from Bruceton Mills, West Virginia. He was arrested the same day and charged with threats of terrorist acts.
On Tuesday, August 28, after an immediate and abrupt evacuation of the WVU’s Mountainlair Student Union and neighboring bookstore Barnes & Noble, word of more possible threats like Johnson’s began to spread like wildfire.
These threats, however, came to a quick end when word that someone had pulled the fire alarm began to arise in this rumor’s place. Nothing has been confirmed yet and the university has not released a comment, either. Although Zachary Johnson’s threats were stopped before action could be brought about, there is always some place in the world where threats do turn into reality, and for that we should always be careful and aware of our surroundings.
Link to March For Our Lives GoFundMe.