Before services at Arcadia First Baptist on Sunday, 18-year-old Monica Bracknell told Gov. Abbott the #SantaFeHighSchoolShooting tragedy wasn’t about guns. “It’s not a political issue. It’s not a gun law issue. It’s a this kid was able to get into the school very easily issue.” pic.twitter.com/K8ZZW75v6v
— Erin Ailworth (@ailworth) May 20, 2018
According to the Wall Street Journal, she added that the recent high school shooting shows that there’s a major problem with school safety, “It’s a, this-kid-was-able-to-get-into-the-school-very-easily, issue,” she said.
Jerl Watkins, the interim senior pastor at the church, explained that there are “no words” that can take away the pain the 10 families of the victims are feeling and called for more than just prayers.
“Do we need to do more than just pray?” he asked. “Yes, we most certainly do.”
The recent shooting reignited an already fierce debate about gun control in the country, but the Los Angeles Times reported that in the wake of the shooting, the Santa Fe students, unlike Parkland, Florida, students, haven’t vocalized a strong cry for increased gun control.
At a vigil on Friday evening, the Los Angeles Times reported the issue of guns didn’t come up, and on Saturday there were no protests, and there weren’t an expected for Sunday.
“We have created a culture that does not value life, that does not honor God, that does not respect authority,” Rev. Brad Drake, who lost a member of his congregation in the shooting.
He added that now, we’re “reaping the consequences of those actions,” and no security guard or metal detector can reverse what’s been created.
Eight students and two teachers were killed during the shooting on Friday. Accused shooter Dimitrios Pagourtzis, was arrested and faces charges of capital murder and aggravated assault of a public servant.”
