Madison Thibodeau ’22, Staff Writer
38 people dead and 83 people injured in August 2019 alone due to mass shootings. Mass shootings are defined as a shooting in a public place with 4 or more people killed. These 3 mass shootings in August 2019 have all tremendously excessed the number of killed needed to be defined as a mass shooting.
In El Paso, Texas on August 3, 2019 – 22 people are dead and 24 people are injured after a gunman opened fire at a Walmart store and parking lot in a shopping center. The male suspect is identified as Patrick Crusius, 21, who was taken into custody without incident. Prosecutors are pursuing a hate crime investigation and domestic terrorism charges.
In Dayton, Ohio on August 4, 2019 – 9 people are dead and 37 people are injured after a gunman wearing a mask, bulletproof vest, and hearing protection opened fire in the Oregon District. The male suspect is identified as Connor Betts, 24, who was shot and killed by patrolling police within 30 seconds of suspect gunfire. Evidence has still not determined the motives to why the suspect committed this crime.
In Odessa, Texas on August 31, 2019 – 22 people are dead and 24 people are injured after gunman opened fire at police officers during a routine traffic stop before driving away. The gunman continued to fire shots at motorist and pedestrians while fleeing. The male suspect was identified as Seth Aaron Ator, 36, who was cornered by police outside the Cinergy movie theater and fatally shot.
3 mass shootings. 38 people are dead. 83 people are injured. The August rampage of mass shootings are a tragedy that will always be remembered. However, why do these mass shootings continuously keep happening?
“Our thoughts and prayers are not enough.” -Barack Obama, former president of the United States
Obviously, there are the original blaming such as video games, mental health, and copycats. But, digging deeper, can we put the overall blame on technology as a whole.
Technology is desensitizing the society from true human interaction. Society is so consumed by phones, computers, and pads that it lacks that face-to-face interaction with other human beings. People are so disconnected from the natural world that technology is creating compassionless killers.
Many are unaffected by the destruction that can be inflicted on human beings. If there is no connections with the family, the community, or the world – nothing is stopping an individual from picking up a gun and firing. This society of technology is creating silent and depressed killers that one day may just snap.
Mass shootings will continue to rampage across the United States if the government, the society, the people do not take a deeper look at technology. This is the underlying cause of mass shootings which needs to be investigated and reported at a national level. Mass shootings are out of society’s control. Therefore, the amount of time individuals are exposed to technology needs to decline. This is before the number of deaths and injuries increase from mass shootings.
