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Americans testify to the haunting repetition of shootings in their lives

Escaping one shootout and finding yourself, by a twist of fate, confronted by another. As the murderous litany continues in the United States – six more dead Monday, including three children, in a school in Nashville – Americans testify to the prevalence of these violent events in their lives.

Journalist and survivor

Joylyn Bukovac, a reporter for local broadcaster WSMV4, was covering the Nashville shooting when she told viewers the event brought back painful memories for her.

“It’s something that touches me personally. Many of you may not know this, but I survived a shooting at my school,” she said.

She was in fourth grade, she added, and was “in the hallway when the gunman opened fire.”

The journalist took advantage of this intimate confession to give advice to the relatives of the students.

“Be very gentle with them and let them talk when they’re ready, because the shock they’re going to feel once they’re home will be boundless,” she said. “I wasn’t ready to talk about it for two years. So give them some time.”

The video of her remarks went viral and she received many messages of support.

“I just wanted people to know they’re not alone,” she tweeted.

“I don’t talk about it much, but I often think about what happened on February 5, 2010 (…). I also want to discuss the solutions. As a mum, I worry about the future .”

From Illinois to Tennessee

The video of Ashbey Beasley bursting into a press conference after the Nashville shooting, to make a rousing plea against gun violence, has also gone viral.

Because with his son, Ashbey Beasley survived a shooting on July 4 in Highland Park, Illinois, in the middle of a parade for the American national holiday (seven dead). And she was on Monday “on a family vacation” in Nashville when the carnage occurred.

“Aren’t you tired of being here and having to cover up all these mass shootings?” she asked. “How is it possible that this is still happening?”

Ashbey Beasley told CNN she had planned to have lunch with a friend who lost her son in a restaurant shooting five years ago when she informed her that another school of his sons was on high alert because of the carnage in Nashville.

“This is where we are. We have children going through several mass shootings. What are we doing?” she asked.

From high school to university

High school student Emma Riddle survived a deadly shooting at her Michigan high school in 2021. She surely hoped never to experience such a nightmare again. But a little over a year later, the violence caught up with her at university.

“14 months ago I had to be evacuated from Oxford High School when a 15-year-old opened fire and killed four of my classmates, injuring seven others. Tonight I’m sitting under my desk at the Michigan State University, once again sending ‘I love you’ messages to everyone,” she tweeted in February.

“When will we see the end of it?”, she added.

While expressing his pain that his daughter had twice experienced such a traumatic event, her father, Matt Riddle, explained that the first shooting had prepared her to react better to the second.

“Having lived through that at Oxford, it helped her understand what to do in these types of situations,” he said.

Which doesn’t mean he thinks it’s a good thing.

“His safety and sense of peace has been ripped away from him twice in 14 months because America continues to choose guns over children,” he tweeted.

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    Une mère de trois enfants reste sans voix après avoir réalisé combien elle dépense chaque année pour subvenir à leurs besoins

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