Sandy Hook Parents: 'How Many Children Have To Die?'

Newtown CT

25 May, 2022

3:48 PM

Description

NEWTOWN, CT — Texas Rangers are still trying to determine what motivated a someone to kill 21 people in a school outside of San Antonio on Tuesday. The gunman, identified by Gov. Greg Abbott as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, wore a tactical vest and used a rifle in the attack on Robb Elementary School. Ramos was shot and killed by police, but not before killing 19 children and two teachers. In Newtown, the parents of some of the children killed in the remarkably similar tragedy that played out at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 have been reaching out on the internet and other media to offer support to the Texas families, and vent frustration. Nelba Márquez-Greene, mother of six-year-old Ana who died that December day, encouraged her Twitter followers to push forward through the pain: "There is someone reading this and within my reach who is a short distance from letting go. We live in a stew of horrible. I understand. I want to encourage you to stay. Not because I can promise you better… but because not having you here would make it worse." Márquez-Greene, a therapist, also provided the context that "every day 120+ people lose their lives to gun violence." Nicole Hockley's son Dylan was one of the 26 people killed when Adam Lanza shot up Sandy Hook Elementary School nearly 10 years ago. Thpse events inspired her to start Sandy Hook Promise. The Newtown-based non-profit organization advocates for more gun control legislation and develops programs that teach how to recognize, intervene, and get help for people who may be at risk of hurting themselves or others. In an op-ed in USA Today Wednesday, Hockley said she understood "the unspeakable pain" experienced by the Robb Elementary families. She also asked, "How many children have to die before politicians stop caring as much about their political careers as they do about their constituents and the lives of the children? These shootings are everywhere." Neil Heslin's son Jesse Lewis, 6, died in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. He told the New York Times that the latest school shooting did not make him optimistic anyone would learn any lessons: "I guess it's something in society we know will happen again, over and over," he said, describing the coverage of the Robb Elementary shootings as "almost like an instant replay of Sandy Hook." Vicki Soto Memorial Fund, Inc.osrdah845uf18199m8 ·We are sending our love to the entire Robb Elementary School community. We respect their right to privacy during this difficult time and all throughout the grieving process and we ask you to do the same. We are here to offer help in any way necessary and we encourage the community to reach out to us if they need it. The Vicki Soto Memorial Fund, established to honor the memory of the slain Sandy Hook teacher, offered advice online to contributors on how to best show support for the Texas victims' families: "The best thing you can do right now is to learn the names of the victims and learn about how their family chooses to honor them and respect their wishes." Money raised by the Soto charity goes to support various educational initiatives. Michele Gay, who lost her daughter, Josephine Grace Gay, in the 2012 school shooting, is the co-founder of Safe and Sound Schools, a non-profit focused on improving school safety. In a video circulated Tuesday, Gay said it was "hard to articulate" her feelings about the recent events in Uvalde, Texas: "There have been a lot of terrible tragedies like this, since ours in Sandy Hook, and each time, as you might imagine, we are taken back. It is literally like going back in time. This one in particular is just especially difficult. It is hauntingly similar ... it is really hard to be far away ... we are desperate for them to know that we are praying for them, that we are sending all of our love, all of our positive energy their way."