She wasn’t even the intended victim.
An argument erupted between two groups of kids, a 16-year-old boy pulled a gun and fired at someone, the bullet hit her instead and now her family has to bury her.
The shooting happened at Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood, Washington, on July 3, 2024 (read story here). Because of it, the mall will be closed on July 4, although some surrounding stores will be open (see story here).
Her name was Jayda Woods-Johnson, and she was 13 years old (photo, left). She had nothing to do with those kids, and wasn’t involved in the argument, she just happened to be where the bullet went.
The shooter’s mother handed him to the police the next day. If he’s prosecuted as a juvenile, he’ll probably be in a juvenile detention facility until he’s 21, but we’ll never know his name, and what he did may never show up in adult background checks because juvenile court records are sealed.
But given his age, he’ll more likely be charged as an adult, in which case he could get a lengthier sentence with transfer to an adult prison when he turns 18. But he won’t serve life, because Washington’s supreme court has ruled juvenile killers can’t be sentenced like adults. The rationale is they’re too young to appreciate what they’re done.
We’re seeing that kids are quick to settle arguments with guns. That’s what happened at Alderwood Mall on Wednesday. They don’t seem to appreciate the finality of killing someone. Maybe violent video games and movies have dulled their senses, and death and injury don’t seem real to them.
We now live in a society where kids run around with guns. Since last fall at least 69 kids in Seattle schools have been arrested for gun possession, armed robberies, and shootings (see story here). Nationally, guns are now a leading cause of child death in the U.S., right up there with vehicle accidents. It didn’t used to be this way.
Damn the Supreme Court, NRA, and Republicans for this. They’ve saturated America with guns, and prevented responsible legislatures from regulating them.
Easy access and weak gun laws have armed criminals, anti-government militias, mass shooters, and young children with everything from machineguns to candy-colored handguns (photo, right).
Apart from actual shootings, the proliferation of guns in society is having very unpleasant knock-on effects. It’s making cops and citizens alike even more trigger-happy. Just last month, a jumpy off-duty security guard killed a kid returning a toy gun to a store at a mall in Renton, Washington (see story here).
None of us are safe now. Kids are in danger at school and in malls. This is nuts. It’s out of control and has to change. The runaway gun violence affects everyone and calls for tighter restrictions on guns in public and tougher penalties for violations. Wrist slaps have to end.
P.S., do not give your children the chocolate treat in the photo at left. Being seen with it could get them killed.