Student murdered following another Texas school shooting; fellow student arrested
For the fourth time in less than two years, a Texas high school experienced a school shooting. Yesterday, Bellaire High School senior Cesar Cortes was shot in the chest just before the end of the school day. He died after being transported to a hospital.
The suspect, a 16-year-old classmate, fled the scene but was captured by police that evening hiding behind a dumpster at a grocery store.
Cesar Cortes' death on 1/14/20 involves yet another school shooting demonstrating the WVPI's position: School shooters do not obey gun control laws; so enacting more laws will have little effect in preventing further school shootings. The gun that killed Cesar was obtained illegally as it is is against the law for a 16-year-old to possess a firearm and bring it onto a gun free zone, a school.
(Pictured above: High School senior Cesar Cortes was a member of his school's ROTC program and intended to join the United States military following graduation.)
In a written statement entitled "When the Unthinkable Happens Here" Bellaire Mayor Andrew S. Friedberg stated:
"School shootings take place with such alarming frequency, it’s easy to become desensitized and lulled into complacency. We see it on TV, and while we know it can happen anywhere, it’s not supposed to happen here. Yet today it has."
It is tragic to think anyone in the Houston area could have become "desensitized" and "lulled into complacency" concerning school shootings as there have been at least four (4) high school shootings in less than two years.
TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTINGS 2018-2020
--On January 31, 2019, a 16-year-old student was wounded at Atascocita High School in Humble,Texas by a fellow student during an alleged drug deal. The 17-year-old shooter was said to have had "a substantial juvenile history" and reportedly later mocked law enforcement who arrested him on his social media.
--On January 22, 2018, a 15-year-old student was wounded by a fellow student inside the cafeteria at Italy High School (IHS), in Italy, Texas. The shooter allegedly pulled a knife on another student prior to the shooting.
--On May 18, 2018, a massacre resulting in the deaths of 10 innocents and the wounding of 13 others happened a mere 40 minutes away from Bellaire in Santa Fe, Texas.
The confessed Santa Fe High School mass shooter, who was enrolled as a junior on the day he shot 23 people in a matter of minutes, has not stood trial as of yet.
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The modern American active school shooter/bomber era commenced on April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School.
(Pictured above: Columbine High School Memorial in Colorado - Daniel Mauser was brutally murdered along with 12 other students and a teacher on 4/20/99)
RECOMMENDATIONS
This continuing preventable tragedy will not stop until we as a nation seriously commit ourselves to prevention by:
1. Acting on pre-event leakage of violent intent.
2. Holding the 80-90% of gun owners who allow guns to fall into the hands of school shooters criminally accountable (i.e. parents and close family members).
3. Designating school shooters as domestic terrorists and prosecuting them under federal law.
Sources:
https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/student-rushed-to-the-hospital-from-bellaire-hs-after-being-shot/285-b8cfd73e-f781-4dcd-9ad7-e7efa6d574e5
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/15/us/houston-student-shot-on-campus/index.html
https://cityofbellairemayorsmusings.blogspot.com/?fbclid=IwAR2Y78uYKQfYjR922EFD_xY5w9lmr0qc34p9RLecB4YcxqRCbfyPps-dZU0
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/05/santa-fe-texas-school-shooting-america-forgot/589552/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-teen-charged-assault-italy-high-school-shooting-n840301
https://abc13.com/5115994/