January 23, 2018

It’s Tuesday and There Have Already Been Two School Shootings This Week

A 15-year-old is suspected of killing two and injuring 17 in Kentucky.

Ryan Hermens/The Paducah Sun/AP

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At least two students are dead after a 15-year-old classmate opened fire inside Marshall County High School in the small own of Benton, Kentucky, on Tuesday morning. At least 17 others were reported injured, with 14 of those injured sustaining gunshot wounds.

A 15-year-old boy was arrested and is expected to be charged with murder and attempted murder, Kentucky State Police Lt. Michael Webb said in a press conference. 

“This is a tremendous tragedy and speaks to the heartbreak in our communities,” Gov. Matt Bevin said in a statement. “It is unbelievable that this would happen in a small, close-knit community like Marshall County.” 

In describing the harrowing scene, 16-year-old Lexie Waymon told the Associated Press, “I blacked out. I couldn’t move. I got up and I tried to run but I fell. I heard some hit the ground. It was so close to me. I just heard it and then I just, everything was black for a good minute. Like I could not see anything. I just froze and did not know what to do.”

The incident is the nation’s second school shooting in less than a week, after a 15-year-old girl was wounded in a shooting at Italy High School in Texas on Monday. The victim is said to be in “good spirits” and recovering, a school official said Tuesday. Authorities have charged a 16-year-old boy with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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