Oxford community presses for gun safety two years after tragic mass shooting
Two-year anniversary of Oxford shooting looms
With the two-year anniversary of the Oxford High School shooting looming, parents and students find themselves advocating for ways to prevent a tragedy on a similar level from ever happening again. At the same time, they're still coming to terms with the day that altered their lives forever.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (FOX 2) - With the two-year anniversary of the Oxford High School shooting looming, parents and students find themselves advocating for ways to prevent a tragedy on a similar level from ever happening again.
At the same time, they're still coming to terms with the day that altered their lives forever.
"For me, it was a very scary day. It's something I wish on no parent, no community, no child," said Emily Busch.
Busch is a parent within the Oxford community. But on Nov. 29, a day before the two-year anniversary of the tragic shooting that left four students dead, she was also at a roundtable where community members discussed ways to spark change.
"Whether it’s legislation, whether it’s programming in schools, whether it’s changing how we teach our children to be better to one another," she said.
Another parent, Michelle McClellan remembers being in touch with her two kids throughout the horror.
"They put me on a text thread looking for each other," she said. "'Where are you? I'm here.' ‘Are you okay? I’m okay.'"
But sorting through potential solutions is no easy task. Themes that discuss gun control bring charged attitudes and strong emotions that are associated with both individual safety and firearm regulation.
McClellan said "real solid background checks" are a good place to start, as well as "maybe even banning certain weapons that don’t make sense for people to have."
Oxford High School shooting independent report: 'District failed to provide safe environment'
"Our investigation has revealed that had proper threat assessment guidelines been in place and District threat assessment policy followed, this tragedy was avoidable," the report said.
But while fleshing out the emotional toll will continue to test those that witnessed the shooting, both Busch and McClellan agree they cannot stop trying to push for progress.
"I hope that people are able to learn from this and understand that for those of us who have entrenched ourselves in this movement, we recognize that it is very complex, yet we are very dedicated to finding solutions," said Busch.