Rapid Response

Maryland School Resource Officer Stops School Shooting Before It Gets Out of Hand

The+Secretary+of+of+Education%2C+Betsy+DeVos%2C+tweets+out+her+support+for+the+family+of+the+lone+victim+of+the+shooting

The Secretary of of Education, Betsy DeVos, tweets out her support for the family of the lone victim of the shooting

One month after the Majory Stoneman Douglas shooting, and for the seventeenth time in 2018, there was another school shooting. This time at Great Mills High School in St. Mary’s County. A seventeen-year-old student walked in with a handgun and shot two students.

However, this story ends differently because of quick-acting resource officer. Officer Blaine Gaskill responded to the shots within 60 seconds and fired a shot at the active shooter. The shooter was pronounced dead but it is unsure whether the officer’s bullet hit him or if he shot himself. Of the two students shot, one was in stable condition and lived, but unfortunately, the other was in critical condition and died over the weekend after being taken off life support. If not for the resource officer’s response, there is no telling how many other students would have been harmed.