Her generation has grown up practising active shooter drills in schools, and she is not the only student at Brown University who has now lived through their second school shooting.
At a press conference on Sunday, the mayor of Providence, Brett Smiley, was asked what could be done to stop the “uniquely American experience” of mass shootings on campuses.
He was reluctant to weigh in with the investigation ongoing and the victims still recovering, but he shared a conversation he had had with one of the injured students.
“When I was at the hospital today – one of students that showed tremendous courage literally said to me, ‘you know that active shooter drill they made me do in high school it actually helped me in the moment’,” he said.
“Which at the same time provided me hope, and was so sad. They shouldn’t have to do active shooter drills but it helped, and the reason it helped and the reason we do these drills is because it’s so damn frequent.”
Driving around campus, there is still a heavy police presence even though the lockdown has been lifted.
One student, who was leaving for the holidays, said: “Our perfect bubble, that we’ve been in for so long, just shattered.”
