Just as headlines from the February 27 Chardon High School shooting begin to fade, the New York Times website carries two articles on what both appear to be adult shootings.
On Thursday, two people were killed at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "A man carrying two semiautomatic pistols walked through the front door, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said at a press briefing," according to the Times. "The gunman was not identified. Victims included members of the hospital staff and at least one visitor, hospital officials said. Mr. Ravenstahl said that the authorities could not yet say which gun or guns killed the gunman and the dead victim, who was also not identified. Both were said to be adult men." (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had a detailed, breaking story.)
The Times also ran a story about what it referred to as the elite Episcopal School of Jacksonville (in Florida) and a shooting there Tuesday that left two dead. Teacher Shane Schumerth had been fired that morning, came back to the school, and shot the head of the school, Dale Regan. Schumerth killed Regan, then fatally turned the gun on himself.
"In the aftermath, no one has been able to explain the violent actions of the shy 28-year-old teacher who grew up in small-town Indiana, attended a prep school where his father taught and was part of a large, loving, intellectually curious and socially conscious family," the Times wrote.
We may learn more about these two shooters and their motives in the coming days, but one has to wonder how much they thought about Chardon.