Not too long after a deadly shooting turned a high school graduation ceremony in Fairfield into a nightmare, another California graduation was disrupted by concerns about gun violence.
According to the Vallejo Police Department, officers assigned to extra patrols at Vallejo High School’s graduation ceremony noticed a man whose behavior caught their attention. Police said multiple officers independently observed what appeared to be the outline of a concealed handgun under the man’s clothing. They also noticed him repeatedly adjusting the object and checking it as he walked. That’s a great way to end up shooting yourself in the dick, but I digress.
The man’s behavior reportedly became even more suspicious when he approached the entrance to the graduation ceremony and appeared hesitant after noticing the metal detectors. Police say he then returned to a nearby vehicle, placed some belongings inside, and later came back toward the event.
Officers continued monitoring the situation and eventually detained the suspect. During their investigation, police recovered a loaded handgun with an extended magazine from a backpack inside the vehicle. Authorities later determined that the man was not legally allowed to possess the firearm because of his age. He was arrested and booked into the Solano County Jail.
As previously mentioned, a graduation ceremony for Sem Yeto High School students in Fairfield ended in tragedy when gunfire erupted outside the event. One person was killed and several others were injured. What should have been a celebration of achievement became another reminder of how commonplace gun violence has become in America.
Why would anyone bring a gun to a graduation in the first place? Graduations are supposed to be family events where parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends gather to celebrate a milestone. They are not places where guns should even enter someone’s thought process.
At the same time, it is hard not to wonder what kind of country we have become when attending a high school graduation requires walking through metal detectors. For many Americans, security screenings have become so routine that they barely attract attention anymore. Yet there was a time when a graduation ceremony was simply a graduation ceremony, not an event requiring layers of security and heightened police presence because officials are worried someone might show up strapped.
The fact that police had to be on high alert because of a recent graduation shooting, and then allegedly found a loaded gun at another graduation days later, says something troubling about the times we’re living in.
Graduation season should be about celebrating the future. Instead, too many communities are finding themselves worrying about whether everyone will make it home alive.
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