A local student is mourning the loss and injuries suffered by his fellow Brown University classmates.
Sam Brackney, a freshman and Sewickley native, tells KDKA Radio this shooting isn’t just a Brown University issue, he says it’s part of a larger problem in a country where gun violence keeps happening.
“I don’t know how much longer or how many more of these need to happen before something is done about it,” said Brackney. “I don’t know what needs to be done, I’m not a politician or a lawmaker, but something needs to change, kids shouldn’t be suffering, it’s just so tragic that people this close to home for me are suffering with the aftermath of what’s going on.”
Brackney says he was supposed to be in the building where the shooting happened, but was convinced to not go by a group of friends, working on a final project instead.
He also has personal ties to one of the female victims injured in the shooting.
“I’m really close with her roommate, I saw her in the hospital yesterday, she’s doing better,” said Brackney, adding he never expected something to happen like a mass shooting at a place like Brown.
Brackney says he’s leaning on his family, faith, and prayer has helped keep him grounded as he tries to get through each day in the aftermath of the shooting.