Meijer Praised For Shutting Entire Store To Help Survivors Of Oxford School Shooting Reunite With Their Parents
It is the 28th school shooting this year.
Twitter A grocery store in Oxford, Michigan is being praised after it shut down operations to assist in helping students evacuate from Oxford High School and reunite with their parents, after a mass shooting.
The school was placed on lockdown during and after the attack with students sheltering in locked classrooms while authorities searched the school.
Students at the high school were later taken to the Meijer grocery store across the street to be picked up by their parents.
Meijer shut down to aid Oxford High School shooting survivors.
The grocery store stopped allowing customers in while authorities and students worked to reconnect with their families and parents rushed to collect their kids.
The shooting at the Michigan high school happened on Tuesday afternoon and during a press conference, Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe confirmed that police responded to an active shooter at the school shortly after 12:50 p.m.
McCabe also informed reporters that the suspect, a 15-year-old sophomore, was taken into custody without resistance within five minutes of the first emergency call; police also recovered a handgun from the suspect.
Among the approximately 1,800 students at the school, Hana St. Juliana, 14, and Madisyn Baldwin, 17, were killed in the shooting.
Tate Myre, 16, died in the patrol car as deputies were transporting him to the hospital.
Eight others were seriously wounded, including a teacher, and were taken to the hospital with various injuries.
Of the wounded students, three are in critical condition, including a 15-year-old boy who sustained a gunshot wound to the head and a 14-year-old girl who is currently on a ventilator after being wounded in the chest and neck.
The shooter had fired at least a dozen shots before he was taken into custody, and there had been more than a hundred 911 calls that came in to dispatch.
"Deputies responded and within five minutes had the suspect in custody," McCabe said during the press conference. "He did not cause any problems. He gave the weapon up. He didn't have the weapon on him at the time."
Police did not say what motive the suspect had for the shooting, and McCabe told reporters that the 15-year-old had “invoked his right to not speak.”
Authorities had also briefly spoken to the boy's parents, who advised their son not to say anything to police.
In a statement to Insider, McCabe said that the suspect had asked for a lawyer after refusing to talk.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addressed the tragic shooting during a press conference, calling the deaths and injuries “horrific” and that it’s time for the community to come together to “help our children feel safe at school.”
"My heart goes out to the families," Whitmer said. "I wanted to be here because this is an important moment to support one another."
Whitmer also became emotional during the news conference, calling the shooting “every parent's worst nightmare.”
President Joe Biden also addressed the Oxford school shooting during an event in Minnesota.
"My heart goes out to the families enduring the unimaginable grief of losing a loved one," he said. "That whole community has to be in a state of shock right now."
The suspect is currently being held at a juvenile facility, but there is a possibility of him being moved if he’s charged as an adult.
The Oxford High school shooting marks the 651st incident this year in which at least four people were shot, and it is the 28th school shooting of 2021.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.