Two attendees at a high school reunion were shot dead Saturday night, in a violent altercation that ended when an off-duty FBI agent killed the shooter in an East Peoria, Illinois bar. Several sources said the victims were the shooter’s ex-wife, and new boyfriend. All three were killed in front of more than 100 witnesses.
The frequency of school shootings is a well-known phenomenon, with incidents on school grounds happening at a rate of almost one per week since the Newtown Massacre, according to Everytown for Safety’s count. But shootings at school reunions are also their own sub-category, bolstering the notion that no event, location, or activity is immune from gun violence in America.
In 2011, shootings at two different Detroit-area high school reunions occurred two weeks apart, injuring at least eight. And in 2010, one attendee was killed and seven others injured at a Baltimore high school reunion. That same year, a Texas man threatened “vengeance” on those who injured him in high school at a 20th reunion.
In just the past few months, shots were fired at two family reunions, also — in St. Louis, Missouri and Philadelphia.