On April 9th starting around 5:30pm near Olde Greenwich Circle and Lafayette Boulevard, the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office received a call of a shooting.
Two 18 year olds and a 20 year old were killed. One 16 year old suspect was shot and hospitalized.
“You know, Spotsylvania County has had several incidents over the past 24 hours that were gun related. We take these extremely seriously. I mean, this is … probably as bad as it could get with at least six people being shot right now. It’s been a stressful 24 hours,” Major Elizabeth Scott said.
This shooting was due to an illegal gun deal gone wrong, with 4 teenage suspects who were charged. In a recording, two boys were carrying large firearms (Appearing to be an AR-15), which they later ditched in a neighbor’s backyard. Four boys will be facing charges: 18 year old Jermiah Upson, two 16 year olds, and a 17 year old.
“I think it just influences; the people that they have in their lives. I feel like it’s who they surround themselves with. I don’t think they really know the full extent, how much harm they can do with those bigger guns.” an anonymous Colonial Forge Student said (26).
Many adults living in Olde Greenwich are heavily concerned for their safety and the safety of their children. In a Washington 4 report one father took action and shot one of the suspects, who will not be facing charges.
“Want to have control over their lives, because so far, you know, at their young age of how their life has been decided for them, they get no decisions, most likely. So then they become angry and they want to have power. They want to be able to be an adult. And some people seek out adulthood through weapons and violence.” Colonial Forge Student Logan Fandrich (25) said “I had some decision, you know, like what party I wanted to go to, or what suit I wanted to wear to homecoming or something like that. […] These kids could have just lived a rough life. And they want to have power now. They want to take control of it”.
In 2022 alone there were 48,000 firearm-related deaths in the United States according to the Center for Disease Control. The real question is why these kids feel the need to purchase a firearm, and a large one at that. Social media is running 24/7, 365 days a year and kids seem to be run by the same algorithm social media apps are based off of. While there are no direct connections, there is speculation that media is connected to kids and young adults using firearms. Media can be defined at social media, news, video games, ect.
“Obviously, there has been an increase in aggression and an increase in violence in the past few decades, and there’s also been an increase in the internet and an increase in online usage. And I think online, what people care about and what gets the views is big headlines that scare people, and big headlines that make it seem like certain problems are a lot bigger than they are” Colonial Forge Kenneth Anderson (25) said.
