Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Today’s Video: Seven years later

Today is the seventh anniversary of one of the darkest days in recent Argentine history: the shooting at the Malvinas Argentinas School.

Three children were killed and five were wounded as a result of the Carmen de Patagones massacre that took place on September 28, 2004. The perpetrator was a fifteen-year-old high school student identified as “Junior” who fired on students with a 9-millimeter handgun owned by his father.

Several teachers told the local press at the time that “Junior”, whose real identity remains secret under the law, was a very reserved and quiet student who rarely participated in any activities. (His personality seems to be similar to that of a twenty-four-year-old man behind the massacre of twelve children in a Brazilian school earlier this year.)

Some parents of the victims wondered if the shooting could’ve prevented by teachers though the judge that presided over his trial observed that the gunman’s family “cannot comprehend how this happened.” (“Junior” served time in juvenile detention for his crime; his current whereabouts, however, are reportedly unknown).

Students and teachers where able to return to the school roughly three weeks after the shooting and the classroom where the incident took place served as “a room for reflection.”

Reflection is the operative word in the following video where former students of the Malvinas Argentinas School, their families, and others remember the infamous incident. Seven years after the massacre some have been able to move on though the mental and psychological wounds still lingers:


Video Source - La Nacion via YouTube

Online Sources- CBS News, La Nacion, m24digital.com, CBS News

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