Current Event: School "shooting" in Barcelona

13 Year Old Kills Teacher

On Monday, April 20th, a 13 year old came to school with a crossbow and proceeded to injure four people. One of the injuries was fatal and the other three were treated at a nearby hospital. This event was pre-meditated by the student who kept a list of people who hurt him on a "black list." He had a crossbow with him so he could not reload fast enough to injure or kill more people which is the only good part about this story. when this happens in America (which is does too often), the student usually has a gun that is easy to use and reload resulting in a death toll that is rarely only person. This is an unusual situation however because the 14 year old cannot go to jail and wasn't even technically arrested due to the way the Spanish penal code is written. They will be examining the parents of the aggressor and have already send him to receive psychiatric treatment.

This was especially shocking news to wake up to on Monday morning because although it was genuinely shocking, I had become so used to updates appearing on my phone regarding school shootings that my reaction was somewhat limited. The first thing I thought was "It would have been so much worse if he had a gun." This is undeniable. Americans can't seem to grasp the concept that more guns do not necessarily mean peace and that even one falling into the hands of the wrong person can result in a catastrophic event. It is significantly harder to own a gun in Catlaunya so it makes sense why a crossbow was the weapon he used but nonetheless, this is a terrible tragedy that should be mourned. I commend the Catalan government for addressing the potential root of the problem by sending him to get psychiatric treatment and questioning the parents who could lose their custody if they are viewed as unfit to continue raising this clearly troubled child. Getting to the heart of the issue can stop events like this from happening in the future but for the 13 year old boy, his life will never be the same and he will never forget the day that he killed his teacher in front of her daughter