[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 42 (Wednesday, March 9, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H1379-H1380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    OLATHE EAST HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING

  (Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas. Madam Speaker, last Friday a student brought a 
gun into Olathe East High School. By noon, three people, an assistant 
principal, a school resource officer, and a student were on their way 
to the Overland Park Regional Medical Center with gunshot wounds.
  Students hid in classrooms sending texts that every parent dreads 
receiving: Someone is shooting inside the school. Thanks to the actions 
of Officer Erik Clark and the assistant principal Kaleb Stoppel, those 
parents were able to reunite with their students safely on Friday 
afternoon.
  We are all grateful and hoping for their full recovery. I know I am 
not alone in thinking that things could have been much worse were it 
not for their intervention.
  I would also like to commend the Olathe Police Department, fire 
department, and Johnson County MED-ACT for their exemplary response. 
Thank you for helping keep our community safe. These are the headlines 
that every American is tired of reading, that everyone fears will come 
to their doorstep.
  We must step up mental health support in schools--not just in the 
aftermath of trauma, but permanently. I stand with every parent, 
educator, student, and Kansan who has come together to call for 
commonsense gun safety. We have to be brave enough to put our kids' 
lives first.

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