School shooting, 1 dead, 2 critical, 6 teenagers charged (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids: houses, neighborhood, public schools)

[smpliving]

The shooting unfolded Monday afternoon outside East High School. Six teenagers have been arrested on murder charges stemming from a drive-by shooting Monday outside a Des Moines, Iowa, high school that left a 15-year-old boy dead and critically injured two female students, police said on Tuesday.

"Gunshots were fired by multiple shooters, from multiple vehicles," according to the police statement.


https://abcnews.go.com/US/multiple-p...ry?id=83305289

[fezzador]

Awful news. It's not something that most folks would expect to happen in Iowa but unfortunately it's not the first time it made national headlines for school shootings (the U of I incident in the early 90s).


It's just too darn easy for kids to get a hold of guns these days. Most teens don't have the maturity to give firearms the proper respect they deserve. They aren't symbols of power - they are dangerous weapons designed to damage and destroy.

[GraniteStater]

Sad news indeed. I looked up the location of the High School and was surprised that it is literally on top of an interstate highway.

[smpliving]

It is very sad. I’ve lived in Iowa for 28 years and my city, Cedar Rapids, is struggling with the increase in shootings and murders too. The last time was a couple months ago where the shootings and murders occurred over a 2-day span. These are just kids, all under 20, from lower socio-economic backgrounds but not always the case.

A few months ago a high school student shot both his parents and sister dead. He was from an upper class family in a very nice neighborhood in Cedar Rapids.

[fezzador]

When we think of school shootings, we tend to think of "lone wolves" in hoodies or trenchcoats that want to exact some measure of payback before killing themselves in the process. Most of these individuals suffer from mental illness or some other inherent disorder which have gone unchecked for far too long.


As this unfortunate story unfolds, this appears to be a gang-related incident that just so happened to occur on school property. The United Latin American Citizens of Iowa has called for greater awareness and funding for the needs of Latino students, which make up a significant percentage of students enrolled in Des Moines area public schools. Des Moines is reaping some benefits due to its strong growth and increasing diversification, but there are also some challenges that I'm not sure central Iowans are prepared to meet.

[jmgg]

Originally Posted by fezzador

When we think of school shootings, we tend to think of "lone wolves" in hoodies or trenchcoats that want to exact some measure of payback before killing themselves in the process. Most of these individuals suffer from mental illness or some other inherent disorder which have gone unchecked for far too long.


As this unfortunate story unfolds, this appears to be a gang-related incident that just so happened to occur on school property. The United Latin American Citizens of Iowa has called for greater awareness and funding for the needs of Latino students, which make up a significant percentage of students enrolled in Des Moines area public schools. Des Moines is reaping some benefits due to its strong growth and increasing diversification, but there are also some challenges that I'm not sure central Iowans are prepared to meet.

This happened only 3-4 blocks from the hospital my oldest daughter works at. More and more she is getting concerned about just walking to and from her vehicle in this neighborhood, which is on the edge of downtown.

Incidentally, the shooting happened while she was at work and the hospital didn't institute any form of lockdown. I'm not sure if it was necessary, but in a case like this it should be a topic for discussion there. I'm not criticizing, but as bad as this was it's worth looking into.

[mofford]

East High is a pretty rough school, it has a high dropout rate. I remember an incident on the news around 5 years ago, where a 12 year old East student, a white kid, was walking home from East High wearing a red shirt. A group of thugs approached him and gave him crap about wearing a red shirt, then proceeded to beat the crap out of him, they broke his arm and left him for near dead on the sidewalk. By the way, red is the school color for East High.

[smpliving]

Drive by shootings at two houses last night. These shootings occurring in Cedar Rapids on an almost weekly basis or more, mostly surrounding downtown. Thankfully no injuries or killings this time.

https://www.kcrg.com/2022/03/11/ceda...rsday-evening/

[smpliving]

In Des Moines, friends remember Jose Lopez, age 15, killed in the March 7 shooting.

https://www.kcrg.com/2022/03/15/frie...s-high-school/


In Cedar Rapids the shootings continue over the weekend and last night sending the injured to the hospital.

https://www.kcrg.com/2022/03/15/one-...ithin-2-hours/

https://www.kcrg.com/2022/03/14/ceda...uvenile-youth/

[fezzador]

Is it known as to what kind of firearms were used in the drive-by? If they were assault rifles or some other sort of military-grade weapon, we absolutely need to get those off the streets. There is absolutely no need for civilians to be able to get their hands on something so dangerous and destructive. Perhaps an exception could be made for someone like a museum curator or someone's private collection but they'd have to pay a hefty fee in order to legally obtain one.


It's futile to even consider restricting handguns and shotguns as for every person that abuses their 2nd amendment right, there are 100 that use their firearms lawfully (hunting and personal protection).