A Month After a School Shooting: What’s Changed and How Safe Do We Feel?  

By now, we’re all aware of what happened.  On April 29th, a gunshot rang out from Blake’s student parking lot during an altercation.  The shot was heard in the student lot and across the school building, but the sound echoed throughout the county.  A month later, the fallout of the altercation is still happening, both inside Blake’s walls and around MCPS, raising questions about student safety and security. 

The incident began with a fight that escalated past control. Mr.Marshall, the school’s chief security guard, ran towards the altercation and quickly confiscated the gun.  Police were called and quickly arrived on the scene. The school was placed on hold for the remainder of the day. 

Parents feared for their children’s safety. The pick-up line in the main office was enormous. The teens involved were charged and are currently awaiting trial. The 19-year-old, a non-Blake High School student, was charged with felony first-degree assault and is currently being held without bond. 17-year-old Blake student is being charged with first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, possession of a dangerous weapon on school property, carrying a loaded handgun, and felony use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime. 

The news took many Blake High School students by complete shock. Favour Njowe, a junior, noted “I was a little scared [because] I wouldn’t put it past the people at school to do that type of stuff.” 

Rania Hassan, another junior, stated that she had “never experienced something like this before,” and “[her] mom considered taking [her] out of school because of it.” School violence is rising across Montgomery County as well as the United States as a whole. According to statista.com, school shootings have risen from 23 in 1999 to 349 in 2023, the year with the highest number of school shootings ever recorded.

It is clear that there has been a shift in the United States when it comes to student violence and gun control, and there is a clear connection to this violence and what occurred last week. The main connection found when it comes to student violence is the overall decline in students’ mental health. According to the CDC, “For children with anxiety, more than 1 in 3 also had behavior problems (37.9%) and about 1 in 3 also had depression (32.3%).” These statistics paint some reasoning behind the increase in behavioural problems and the issues that affect Blake’s students; however, there still needs to be a change. 

A month later, we asked Blake students if the new protocols and rules were making students feel safer. Thursday of last week, a community meeting was held, discussing the aftermath of the shooting. Many students expressed that their feeling of safety didn’t exactly change; however, they feel more restricted than safe. An anonymous student stated that he “[doesn’t] believe that this changes things. It just makes us feel like prisoners.” He continued by stating, “We can’t even go outside anymore. It’s stupid. I miss my DoorDash.” 

While slightly humorous, his statement reached Mr. Adelekan, who was present at the meeting. 

“I promise you, as staff, we hear you,” he told Ms.Bertram’s first-period class. “We might not be able to fully incorporate your wishes, but we hear you.”  

The Blake Beat spoke to the anonymous student shortly after, asking him how he felt about Mr.Adelekan’s statement: “I think he does hear us, but I don’t know if we’ll see any actual change. I’m hopeful, though; no principal has ever spoken to us like that before.”
We have yet to hear the fully updated policies of the 26-27 school year, as they will come out in the summertime, but there is hope in the air.