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Brown University Student Survives Second School Shooting, Highlights Epidemic of Gun Violence
A Brown University student, already a survivor of the 2019 Saugus high School shooting, recounts the trauma of experiencing another active shooter alert, underscoring the pervasive nature of gun violence in America.
The approaching holiday break offered little solace for 21-year-old Mia Tretta, a student at Brown university in Providence, Rhode Island.While studying for final exams with a friend, she, like many of her peers, received an active shooter alert from the university’s department of public safety. But for tretta, this alert triggered a chilling echo of the past – she had already lived through the unimaginable.
In 2019, Tretta was shot during a mass shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California. The event, she told the BBC, irrevocably shattered her sense of safety and innocence. “Everyone always tells themselves it’ll never be me,” she said, a sentiment shared by countless students across the nation.
Tretta spent over a week in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound to the stomach inflicted by a 16-year-old boy. Tragically, two others, including her best friend, were killed in the attack. Even now, years later, she carries bullet fragments in her stomach and has undergone multiple surgeries to address nerve pain and repair a damaged eardrum.
Seeking a fresh start and a sense of security, Tretta chose to attend Brown university, geographically distant from the site of her previous trauma. She hoped to escape the shadow of gun violence,believing,at least,that she wouldn’t have to experience it again. That hope was tragically dashed.
“Gun violence doesn’t care if you’ve already been shot before, and it doesn’t care what community you’re in,” Tretta powerfully stated. “Its an epidemic that touches every single community.” She now grapples with a complex mix of fear, confusion, and anger, asserting that Americans should no longer passively accept mass shootings as an unavoidable reality.
Tretta’s experience is not isolated. She previously spoke about gun violence during a visit to the White House in 2022. Her generation has grown up with the grim reality of active shooter drills in schools, and she is not alone at Brown University in having survived a second school shooting.
At a press conference held on Sunday, the mayor of Providence, Brett Smiley, addressed the issue of campus shootings, describing them as a “uniquely American experience.” While hesitant to comment on the ongoing investigation and the well-being of the victims, he shared a poignant conversation he had with one of the injured students. “One of the 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,'” smiley recounted. “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.”
Even with the lockdown lifted, a visible police presence remains on the Brown university campus. A student preparing to leave for the holidays expressed a sentiment echoing throughout the community: “Our perfect bubble, that we’ve been in for so long, just shattered.”
The repeated trauma experienced by students like Mia Tretta serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for thorough solutions to address the pervasive crisis
