According to the Associated press, and Foxnews.com Robert Wayne Gladden, Jr. is a 15 year old sophomore in Baltimore, Maryland, who entered the Perry Hall Highs school cafeteria on Monday morning and opened fire towards a lunch table. He shot, fellow student, Daniel Borowy in the back and was eventually arrested by the school resource officer after a struggle ensued. Fortunately, nobody else was injured although; one more shot was fired during this horrifying incident.
So, why do school shootings continue to take place? Why on the first day of school is there not greater precautions taken to prevent such violence? Why aren’t our nation’s students being protected? This time, it is high school student Robert Wayne Gladden Jr. who planned this assault and who posted on his Facebook page his plans to do so, even if they were not directly spelled out, his Facebook post was reason for concern. But to no avail, his Facebook nickname “Suicidal Smile” or his references on the social media outlet to Charles Manson, were not taken seriously if noticed at all.
Clearly, these could have been perceived indications of his deranged thinking and suicidal tendencies and proclivity to murder. But, no one is paying attention, even today after all the school shootings this country has witnessed. Since, 1999 when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a shooting spree at their Columbine, Colorado high school , we have been acutely aware of how students such as these, planned and attempted and in many cases , succeeded in taking the lives of their classmates for reasons such as bullying or perceived peer pressure.
There have been dozens of other school or university shootings throughout the US and abroad since Columbine, in which innocent lives were taken. And, each time there is a clear path that can be traced back to either social media outlets where these students posted information relating to the crime or their criminal intentions in general, to the unsafe gun laws which exist in our society, and to the lack of school security which can be blamed in some way for these senseless murders and or suicides.
Yet, where are the watchdog groups protecting innocent victims from individuals like this young man, who are promoting themselves through social media networks, like Facebook? Ideally, in the particular case of this Maryland student, the young man’s parents and school should have at least been monitoring his Facebook page, but as we know that is not always the case. Therefore, shouldn’t the social media outlets themselves be monitoring themselves, for people like this ? Knowing that often times when shooting crimes are committed, especially by children, we can go back to their social media accounts and find there were warning signs right there up on the computer?
Furthermore, what are the schools doing to accept responsibility for gun violence on their campuses? Why aren’t the school boards doing more to thwart this epidemic from rising? How come, this young man was able to walk into his school’s cafeteria and open fire without any security measures being in place to prevent him from doing so? This tragedy could have been prevented in many, many ways.
The massive number of attacks by students against students or teachers on school and university campuses is staggering. According to one FBI report, in 1997 alone nearly 6,300 students were expelled from American schools for carrying fire arms. Certainly, this alarming number, alone should be a call to action by all those involved in and out of our school system. It is a wake up call for personal injury attorneys handling these kinds of cases.
Personal injury attorneys who are experienced at representing crime victims do not understand why more is not being done to prevent such wrongful deaths. Miami based lawyers at Gerson & Schwartz, PA are involved in many different organizations which aim to protect the rights of victims like this family who nearly lost their son due to the lack of security at schools and the blind eye turned by so many involved. Why are we not taking these events more seriously and using the professionals in the community to prevent school shootings?
At Gerson & Schwartz, PA we treat every crime victim case with the utmost respect. We understand what a family who has lost a loved one or become seriously injured due to the gross negligence of a 3rd party is going through. Attorney Philip M. Gerson has investigated and represented hundreds of crime victims for over 40 years, involving key witnesses and securing evidence to support claims against responsible parties such as institutions like schools or universities. “We believe in justice for all individuals, and protecting the rights of children is one of our core values at Gerson & Schwartz, PA.
We will represent your family and recover damages on your behalf no matter what it takes, says Gerson. Victims of violent crimes deserve fair and just treatment and representation by qualified professionals”. For more information contact the law firm of Gerson & Schwartz, PA, today for a free consultation. We are available to answer your questions at (305)371-6000 or info@gslawusa.com.