Caroline Randall

“My two young sons and I survived a mass shooting at Umpqua Community College where I directed the TRIO Student Support Services Program in 2015. They were 2 and 3 years old and, in the daycare, when I was suddenly ushered into an office and learned two of my students had already died from gunshot wounds. I couldn’t breathe, not knowing if my boys were safe, or where they were.

It was horrifying.

Within minutes I heard from a friend they were both safe, but would find out months later my 2-year-old was out on a class walk at the time, and only by chance, did the teacher not take the regular walking route past the building in which the shooting occurred.

What strikes me, 7 years later, is how many people I know, that should have been in that room and only by some small chance escaped the fate of the 9 that were fatally shot, and many more that were wounded and otherwise affected for life by the incident. The Family Enrichment Center Director protected the children in her care from absorbing any of the panic, and I am eternally grateful to her for that, but so many families are living with gaps that cannot be filled. Many more than the 9 that died that day have suffered and been forever changed. Many families are grieving the loss of their loved ones that are still here with us but struggling to reengage in the world that created this trauma.

As an educator that has served over 200 students a year for over 12 years, I have seen a lot; but I have yet to see anything that causes devastation of this magnitude.”