Michigan State University shooting marks second mass casualty event for some survivors

Two students that survived mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and Oxford High School have now survived their second such mass casualty event after a gunman opened fire at Michigan State University Monday evening.

Though some of the students’ identities are unknown, one from Newtown, Conn. posted a video on TikTok recounting their experiences.

“It is almost 1 a.m. and I am currently directly across the street from where the shootings at Michigan State occurred,” the student said. “I am 21 years old and this is the second mass shooting that I have now lived through.

“10 years and two months ago, I survived the Sandy Hook shooting,” they continued, explaining that they suffered a bone fracture in their right lower back from crouching in a corner with their classmates for so long during the ordeal.

The injury flares up anytime they are in a stressful situation, they said.

“The fact that this is the second mass shooting that I have now lived through is incomprehensible. My heart goes out to all of the families and the friends of the victims of the Michigan State shooting,” they said, calling for legislative action.

“We can no longer allow this to happen. We can no longer be complacent.”

On Dec. 14, 2012, 26 people were killed when a 20-year-old gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School and fatally shot 20 children and six adult staff members.

The student wasn’t alone as a survivor of multiple mass shootings. The Detroit Free Press reported that a survivor of the Oxford High School shooting, which happened in Oxford Township, MI., is a freshman at MSU.

The student’s mother, Jennifer Mancini, told the newspaper that her daughter was across the street from Michigan State University’s union when she heard gunshots, adding that her daughter lost two friends in the Oxford mass shooting.

Four students died and seven others were injured when a gunman attacked Oxford High School on Nov. 30th, 2021. In the case of the MSU shooting, at least three people were killed and five others were wounded.

Emma Riddle, another survivor of the Oxford High School shooting, expressed her frustration over the tragedy that unfolded at MSU on Twitter.

“14 months ago, I had to evacuate from Oxford High School when a 15-year-old opened fire and killed four of my classmates and injured seven more,” she wrote.

“Tonight I am sitting under my desk at Michigan State University, once again texting everyone ‘I love you’

“When will this end?”

Andrea Ferguson, the mother of another Oxford High School shooting survivor, told WDIV-TV, an NBC news affiliate, that her daughter was “unbelievably terrified,” saying, “It’s really, really surreal to have to worry about this, and to know exactly what to do.”

Oxford Township sits just an hour and a half away from MSU’s East Lansing campus.

Robin H. Gurwitch, PhD, a professor and clinical psychologist at Duke University Medical Center, said the mass casualty event can be triggering for students that have lived through school shootings.

Survivors may experience some of the very same emotions, feelings, and thoughts that they’ve had when they lived through their previous tragedy, she said.

“It can sometimes leave us feeling like the world is not safe.”

Gurwitch recommends that students refrain from making big life decisions, like leaving school permanently, until they’ve had time to properly process what happened.

Survivors wanting to protect their mental health should limit their media intake as well, including social media, and rely on their support networks immediately following the event.

“We don’t have to look far for tragedies in this world,” she said. “But it’s important to recognize that there are really good people out there too that can offer us support where we need it.”