Generation lockdown: There have been 16 school shootings in 2018 alone
The victims of Friday's shooting at a Texas high school were in a place where they should always feel safe -- in a time when many do not. For generation lockdown, the question is no longer if it could happen, as much as when it will happen.
"Was there a part of you... that was like, 'This is not real. This would not happen in my school,'" someone asked Paige Curry, a student at Texas' Santa Fe High School.
"No, there wasn't," Curry said. "It's been happening everywhere. I felt -- I've always kind of felt like eventually it was gonna happen here, too. So, I don't know. I wasn't surprised, I was just scared."
It's worth another listen: "no" part of her thought it couldn't happen at her school.
She is the newest member of the heartbreaking chorus formed from voices around the country, from Lexington Park, Maryland, to Benton, Kentucky.
"I didn't really believe that something like this would happen to a school near me," said Makayla Bonds, in Maryland. "And it's really scary."
"There was a lot of blood everywhere it was horrible," said a student in Kentucky.
It's a generation that knows no matter how forcefully they chant "never again," their experience suggests they probably will.
In 2018 alone, there have already been 16 school shootings -- the highest number at this point during any year since 1999.
Rome Shubert, a sophomore at the school, was treated for a gunshot wound to the head. "[The gunman] had fired 10 to 12 shots in the room before he left," he said. "I'm one of the lucky ones and I'm glad that God spared me but I just feel bad they didn't make it. They had no reason to be shot -- they didn't deserve that."
Santa Fe High School was on lockdown less than three months ago. Today, it was for real, which is why one girl no longer thought it couldn't happen at her school.
"I wasn't surprised, I was just scared," she said.
And sadly, she is the voice of this generation.