Gunshots ring out in the school grounds? The parents are terrified. The children stopped noticing him.
The shots rang out at 8:13 a.m., echoing on the high school football field and in the college garden. They continued for 49 minutes without a break: an AR-15-style rifle, with .223 caliber bullets, ripping at 94 decibels through a community that didn't even stop to wonder if disaster was brewing. produce in schools.
Open this article in the New York Times Audio app on iOS.< /p>
It was a typical morning in Cranston, R.I., where more than 2,000 children attend school less than 500 yards from a field of police shooting. There, local police officers hone their firearms skills, sometimes until 8:30 p.m.
Some days they shoot Glock pistols, like weapons used in mass shootings in Virginia. Tech, the church in Charleston and Thousand Oaks, California. Other days, they use semi-automatic AR-15-style rifles, similar to those used in the Newtown, Connecticut, murders; Las Vegas; Parkland, Florida; Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas.
Many parents have tried unsuccessfully to move the stove to a more distant area or turn it off to block out disturbing noises. They wrote letters in support of a bill introduced by the state Legislature that would ban outdoor shooting ranges within a mile of schools. But police opposed the legislation and the bill is now "held for further study."
“This facility is necessary to train and qualify all members of the department with weapons. they carry to fulfill the mission of protecting the public,” said Police Chief Col. Michael Winquist.
The shots rang out at 8:13 a.m., echoing on the high school football field and in the college garden. They continued for 49 minutes without a break: an AR-15-style rifle, with .223 caliber bullets, ripping at 94 decibels through a community that didn't even stop to wonder if disaster was brewing. produce in schools.
Open this article in the New York Times Audio app on iOS.< /p>
It was a typical morning in Cranston, R.I., where more than 2,000 children attend school less than 500 yards from a field of police shooting. There, local police officers hone their firearms skills, sometimes until 8:30 p.m.
Some days they shoot Glock pistols, like weapons used in mass shootings in Virginia. Tech, the church in Charleston and Thousand Oaks, California. Other days, they use semi-automatic AR-15-style rifles, similar to those used in the Newtown, Connecticut, murders; Las Vegas; Parkland, Florida; Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas.
Many parents have tried unsuccessfully to move the stove to a more distant area or turn it off to block out disturbing noises. They wrote letters in support of a bill introduced by the state Legislature that would ban outdoor shooting ranges within a mile of schools. But police opposed the legislation and the bill is now "held for further study."
“This facility is necessary to train and qualify all members of the department with weapons. they carry to fulfill the mission of protecting the public,” said Police Chief Col. Michael Winquist.
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