Local Teen Gun Violence leads to APS closed campus policy

The massive increase in gun violence amongst teens in the US the past two years had already been concerning, but it has drawn particular focus with the shootings at Nome Park and Hinkley High School recently. The events have led to closed campuses across the district.

The first incident occurred across the street from Aurora Central less than a month ago. It happened at Nome Park, a local hangout very close to Aurora Central High School. During the school day, there was a drive-by shooting that ended up wounding six students, all ranging from the ages of 14-18.  

As of now authorities have arrested a 15-year-old and charged him with attempted murder in connection to the shootings. More arrests could follow.

“This situation honestly makes me worry about what could happen to me” said sophomore Julian Gonzalez. 

The other major incident involving gun violence in Aurora occured in the same week as the incident at Central. Next were shootings in the parking lot of Hinkley High School that wounded three students and recently four teens were charged with attempted murder in connection with it.

Local residents and students believe the two incidents of this magnitude shouldn’t be happening at all, yet alone in the same week. These aren’t the only incidents in Colorado though. During this year, Aurora has seen 135 non-fatal shootings, which is up by 99 from 2020. An increase this large can be caused by a multitude of reasons like social media, social unrest, and of course the quarantine and its consequences.  

In response to the shootings, superintendent Rico Munn announced that all Aurora Public Schools high schools are going into “closed-campus” to keep their students safe through at least the first semester.

 “Closed-campus” is the rule that keeps students in the building, not allowing them to leave for lunch or off periods. Not only that but students who walk, take the bus, or drive themselves have to leave school property immediately once school ends, only allowing students 20 minutes to be picked up before they have to leave campus

“I don’t see the point if you think about it. Shootouts can just just happen with social media, preventing students from going to lunch isn’t going to prevent that,” said freshman Quin’Terrius Dorsey.

Of course Colorado isn’t the only place having problems with gun violence, as the US as a whole saw a 30% increase in gun violence during the pandemic. Just recently, a student from Oxford High School in Michigan was able to bring a weapon into the school and kill four students.