Buell Elementary once stood in Mt. Morris Township on Detroit Street. Since the shooting here in 2000, mom April Hawking said it seems school shootings have become the norm. She says something needs to finally be done.
"I just wish things would change," Hawkins said.
Every time a shooting happens at a school, Mom April Hawkins is brought back to February 29th, 2000
"it just brought back memories of wow I can feel the rush of the parents and is it my child," she said.
Hawkins says she showed up to Buell Elementary early that day to check on her son and she was met with a heavy police presence.
They pushed her to the Church across the street and Hawkins said she waited for over an hour for answers.
"So It's like I'm so close, but I'm still so far because I couldn't run through the police, even though I wanted to," said Hawkins.
Hawkins soon found out a six-year-old shot and killed his classmate Kayla Rolland. Her son, Deznel Mack, was just two seats behind her
"He had blood speckles on his shirt... all he could really say that day was he shot her. I didn't know what to do, you know, all I knew to do was hug my son That's all I could do."
Hawkins says her now-23-year-old calls her each time he learns of yet another school shooting.
"Same thing, happening again. and what can we do to change it," she asked.
Hawkins says she thinks everyone should be paying more attention.
"I feel like there's always signs of the behavior, what's going on with the kids and sometimes we overlook those things and don't take them as seriously as we should," Hawkins explained.
Hawkins also said instead of having students practice active shooter drills, we should be nipping the problem in the bud, with better gun laws.
"They have to change. You know, the NRA they're gonna have to do different. And really take lives more serious because I don't feel like they do when it comes to gun laws and things like that."
