NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The mother of a Covenant school shooting survivor was among several people who took their personal experience with gun violence to Capitol Hill.
This was the second round table on gun violence that the Oversight Committee Democrats have held this season of Congress. It was aimed at examining the epidemic of gun violence and its long-term consequences for children, teenagers, and their communities. The panel of speakers included school leaders, advocates and gun violence experts.
Melissa Alexander told congressional leaders she vividly remembered the morning of the Covenant school shooting when she got a phone call from her son. She said he was frantically begging for her to come save him. Three children and three adults were killed that day in March 2023.
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“My son survived and on that day he grew up. He saw unimaginable things no child should ever see. He prepared to die. According to the Washington Post, there have been 383,000 children like my son since Columbine that have experienced some form of gun violence at school,” said Alexander. “A mass shooting is something you do not get over – places, sounds, smells, fire alarms. Remembering those lost become daily reminders of something that should not have ever been . The stress on your family becomes unbearable at times. I remember the inability to eat, to sleep, to focus, to work in the immediate aftermath. Simple decisions like picking out something to wear became impossible. I am just one example of many.”