As a college student, it’s easy to place ourselves in a bubble of our studies and end up not knowing what’s happening in the world outside of campus. Here’s a breakdown of the top news stories that hit the public this week.
1. Students demand gun control, mourn Parkland victims during National Walkout Day
Students throughout the country gathered for National Walkout Day on March 14 to demand stricter gun laws and to mourn 17 students and faculty who were killed from the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The walkout was the one-month anniversary of the shooting.
The protest started at 10 a.m., with 17 minutes of silence — one minute for each person who was killed.
Students publicly protested with pinwheels, silence, political rallies and voiced their opinions significantly to listeners and legislators on social media. The hashtags #NationalWalkoutDay and #WalkoutDay flooded social media throughout the event.
2. Kentucky officer killed during investigation, police department still looking for suspect
An officer in Kentucky was shot and killed during an investigation for drug activity and authorities are still looking for the suspect.
A statement released by the Kentucky State Police stated Officer Scotty Hamilton and State Trooper Matt Martin stopped to investigate a crime on Tuesday night. After the two officers separated to search the area, Officer Martin heard multiple gunshots and later found Officer Hamilton fatally wounded.
An investigation has been launched, but the suspect has not been arrested by authorities.
Officer Hamilton accounts for one of the 22 law enforcement deaths in the short year of 2018.
Sixteen of these 22 officers were killed in the line of duty. The other six officers were killed in car accidents.
3. Package bombs kill two in Austin, appear to be connected
A package explosive took the lives of two young men in Austin, Texas on Tuesday, March 14.
Three explosive packages have been delivered to Austin homes in the past 10 days killing two victims and injuring two others. Anthony Stephan House and Draylen Mason were killed by separate explosive bombs, but Austin Police say the bombings could be related.
Police have identified the explosive packages as pie bombs made and packaged in a cardboard box, set to go off when handled.
After receiving 265 calls about suspicious cardboard packages on doorsteps, Austin Police are actively investigating the fatal matter. Another package explosive severely injured a 75-year-old woman who is still in critical condition.
Because the victims were African American and Hispanic, the Austin Police Department is questioning whether these explosions acted as hate crimes, but it is too early to know the motive.
Police have determined that these packages have not gone through postal services, but were placed on the doorsteps overnight.
Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Austin Police Department are warning Texas residents to be cautious about packages that arrive from unknown people, as well as packages that arrive overnight.