After a shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island claimed the lives of a least two students and injured several, the tragic event is hitting close to home for some students, with one having ties to South Florida.
NBC6 on Sunday spoke with Zoe Weissman, who said this wasn’t the first time she’s heard gunshots on a school’s campus
“I, you know, went to sleep thinking that the shooter was still at large, and I thankfully woke up to the shooter being apprehended,” Weissman said.
Weissman, a sophomore at Brown University, was among the fearful students on campus when emergency alerts put the university on lockdown.
She said it felt all too familiar.
“I was in my dorm room here, which is probably a five-minute walk from the building where everything happened,” she said.
Students were told to shelter in place, lock doors and wait
“I’m really grateful that I was in my dorm room, that I have food and water in here and access to a bathroom, but a lot of my friends were stuck in academic buildings and didn’t have food for hours,“ she said.
For Weissman, who grew up in Parkland, Florida, this was not her first school shooting.
In 2018, at just 12 years old, she was a student at Westglades Middle School, which is right next to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
“I saw the first responders, I heard the gunshots, and then I heard someone scream, presumably trying to run for safety from Douglas,” she said.
Weissman said that experience left her with PTSD,
Now, years later, at a new school, in another state, those fears came flooding back.
“We lost two of our fellow students, and we also had a lot of our fellow students that were injured as well, and saw things that no one should have to see, and so that is what’s on the forefront of our minds right now,” she said.
That’s why Weissman said she wants to be a voice and not just a statistic
“Realize how prevalent this issue is becoming that now there are people who have survived more than one, and the fact that this is even statistically even a possibility in this country is so disappointing,” she said.
Officials in Rhode Island on Sunday said a suspect was taken into custody.
Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz posted on X the following statement:
“I am deeply saddened by the tragic shooting that occurred at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. My heart goes out to the families and loved ones of the two individuals who lost their lives, and to the nine others who were injured in this devastating and heartbreaking incident. These acts of violence are unacceptable and must stop. No student, family, or community should ever feel unsafe in an environment dedicated to learning and opportunity.”