Essential California

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Friday, Nov. 15, and I’m writing from Los Angeles. By now, the wretchedly unthinkable has become almost rote. You already know that students and teachers barricaded doors with desks and tables, that sobbing children rushed to text their parents from hiding spots, that chaos exploded in the very place that should have been a haven. The particulars will pummel your heart, but the rough contours will not surprise you. We know how this story goes because we have seen it unfold so many times before. On Thursday morning, a 16-year-old opened fire at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, killing two students and wounding three other teens. This was at least the 11th shooting on a high school or college campus this year. The Saugus High School students were scheduled to be in their first-period classes when 16 seconds of fire from a .45-caliber handgun irrevocably cleaved their lives into “before” and “after.” And they were the lucky ones. For two of their classmates there will be no next chapter. A 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy died after being transported to a hospital. Andrei Mojica, 17, was in his AP government class when someone opened the door and told them that there was a shooter on campus. Soon, the class was barricading the doors. He told my colleagues on the scene that he and his classmates had practiced this before, but “there was just something different about it from a simple drill to real life.” Across the country in the U.S. Capitol, a Connecticut lawmaker was giving a speech about gun violence on the Senate floor when someone passed him a note, interrupting the speech. “As I speak, on the floor right now, there is a school shooting,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal then said, according to BuzzFeed. “How can we turn the other way? How can we refuse to see that shooting in real time demanding our attention, requiring our action?” On the Saugus High School campus, a security camera on the quad showed the suspect pulling the handgun from his backpack and shooting the students before putting the gun to his own head. Thursday was the suspect’s 16th birthday. Described by neighbors and classmates as a “quiet” kid, he is now in the hospital in “grave condition.” Here’s some more coverage about the tragedy: » Saugus High suspect opened fire on a crowded quad in a 16-second attack that left two dead and three wounded, the sheriff says. Los Angeles Times » The frantic text from his sister at Saugus High: “There is a shooter, call 911.” Los Angeles Times » Santa Clarita shooting leaves kids at a Thanksgiving pageant crying and trying to understand. Los Angeles Times » A desperate father used the Find My iPhone app to locate his son. Los Angeles Times » How to talk to your kids about school shootings: Here are some tips from the National Assn. of School Psychologists and other mental health experts. Los Angeles Times