Photo courtesy of The Chicago Tribune | A woman leaves a bouquet of flowers outside of the library in Clovis, N.M., where two were killed and four were injured after a teen opened fire last Monday. The teen will be tried as an adult and faces a litany of charges: first-degree murder, child abuse, assault and aggravated battery.
The quiet tapping of keyboards and whispers of children at the Clovis-Carver Public Library in Clovis, N.M., was shattered by gunfire last Monday, Aug. 28. By the time the suspect was apprehended, two people had been killed and four others wounded, including a 10 year-old boy. The two people who were killed were both employees of the library.
Margaret Groeschen, Xavier’s campus liaison librarian, recalls that she received training for these types of situations. She repeats the instructions she was taught for her training: “Duck, cover, escape, do whatever you can. If you are willing to sacrifice yourself for others, that’s a personal choice.”
That was a personal choice made by Alexis Molina and Howard Jones, two of the four who were injured in the attack. Molina was shot once in the chest and once in each leg while protecting her brother. Jones was hit in the arm while protecting his granddaughter. Both are expected to make full recoveries.
“I would like to think that I would be thinking of others as well as myself,” Groeschen said. “(I would like to think I would be) trying to make sure that people find a safe spot.”
The accused gunman is 16-year-old Nathaniel Jouett. He was arrested without issue after the police made it into the building. He has been charged with first-degree murder, assault, aggravated battery and child abuse, according to The Washington Post. He will be tried as an adult.
Jouett joined the Living World Church of God four months prior to the shooting. David Stevens, a youth pastor, recalled that when Jouett first joined the church, he said that he was contemplating suicide.
The United States has been stunned in recent years by an increasing number of large scale mass shootings. In December of 2014, a gunman opened fire inside an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., killing 26 – most of whom were children. In July of 2012, 12 were killed and another 58 were injured when a gunman opened fire at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in an Aurora, Colo., theater.
The worst mass shooting in U.S. history occurred last summer at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Fla. A gunman opened fire on patrons, killing 49 and injuring more than 50 others.
“No one is safe, anywhere… theaters, schools,” Groeschen said. “It’s a new mentality you have to be aware of. You have to be cautious. If you see someone with a duffel bag, is it camera equipment, or is it a gun?”
By: Savin Matozzi ~Staff Writer~
Local News
