Remembering Todd Brown

The boy in this photo is Todd Brown. On February 5th, 2010, 14-year-old Hammad Memon shot 14-year-old Todd, who was walking down a hallway during class change, in the back of the head. Brown died soon after he was shot. No clear motive was ever established.

In 2012, while out on bond, Memon and his mother were arrested at an airport while trying to leave the country for their native Pakistan. Memon's bond was revoked and he was sent to jail. Both of his parents were found guilty of hindering prosecution; they each had suspended jail time and a fine. They then left the country for their native Pakistan.

Memon took a plea deal for 30 years i prison and will be eligible for parole in 2026. If he is released on parole, he will be deported to Pakistan.

Please consider using the share buttons to share this content!

Content copyright © Julie Clark 2023. Please seek permission to use material from this blog.

Aftermath of what school shooting victims have to live with

On January 14, 2014, two students were injured by a shotgun blast in the gymnasium of their middle school by a 12-year-old shooter. The photo to the left is of X-rays of the 12-year-old male victim. Sometimes we need visual reminders that after shootings happen, it isn't over for the victims. In addition to the mental scars that are invisible to the rest of us, there are physical scars. And there is often long term internal damage that will be with victims for the rest of their lives. In the X-ray, you can see over 1000 pellets left in his body. They are too numerous, and too deep, to be removed. Lead poisoning will be a lifelong threat. His blood is tested every six months to check his lead levels. 

In addition to the pellets that remain in his body, he was immediately blinded in his left eye, and needs yearly Lasik surgery on his right eye to try to keep the little vision that he does have.

Nathanial Tavares tells a bit about his experience here: Nathaniel Tavarez

The shooter planned the shooting and brought the modified shotgun to school in a duffle bag. It was reported that the shooter developed scoliosis and possibly some other health concerns and that his parents were suing CYFD because they felt their son had been rehabilitated after 4 years and wanted him released...yet his victims will never be released from their on-going mental and physical pain and medical treatments that their son caused,

The shooter was sentenced to juvenile detention until age 21.

School shooting victims are left paralyzed, scarred, blind, with the possibility of long term lead poisoning, PTSD, and numerous other effects that keep them from enjoying a healthier, more productive life. If this doesn't wake gun owners up to their responsibility to secure their firearms, I don't know what will. More unenforced laws don't seem to be working--an unenforced law is no law at all. All the laws can do is add extra charges after an incident--gun owners must do better! 

And schools must do better at keeping guns out of their schools...the shooter in this post brought in a "modified shotgun" in a duffle bag--just like the Parkland shooter and several other school shooters have done.

Please consider using the share buttons to share this content!

Content copyright © Julie Clark 2023. Please seek permission to use material from this blog.