In 1966, I worked for the U.S. Army before my senior year at the University of Texas in Austin. That was the summer when 14 people were killed and 31 injured in the Texas Tower Murders, widely considered the first mass shooting of the modern era.
We watched from the roof of a downtown building with binoculars as helicopters circled above the shooter. It seemed incomprehensible that a young man would rage against people who were complete strangers.
Sixty years later, we’re saddened (but not surprised) at weekly shootings and acts of violence in schools, hospitals, grocery stores, places of worship and other public venues. Duval County Public Schools has weapons detection systems in middle and high schools, with plans to install equipment in 30 elementary schools…