Cedric Anderson Kills Karen Smith and Jonathan Martinez

Suspect in shooting identified as Cedric Anderson, age 53, resident of Riverside, CA. pic.twitter.com/H9YYQZvZud

— San Bernardino PD (@SanBernardinoPD) April 10, 2017

Victim in school shooting identified as Karen Smith, age 53, estranged wife of suspect. pic.twitter.com/IaC7RCtVhl

— San Bernardino PD (@SanBernardinoPD) April 10, 2017

The murder-suicide at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino is a horrific occurrence of domestic violence in a classroom. A husband shooting his wife to death and then killing himself is too awful for words.

Two innocent children being caught in the line of fire and shot is worse.

Word of the ultimate tragedy came Monday night, that one of the students, an 8-year-old boy, died.

From CNN:

A Southern California man fatally shot his estranged wife inside an elementary school classroom attended by special needs children, before killing himself on Monday, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said.

Two students were injured in the murder-suicide at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino, and one of those children one later died at a hospital, Burguan said.

Burguan said the shooter, Cedric Anderson, 53, of Riverside, walked into the classroom armed with a large caliber revolver and opened fire "without saying anything," killing Karen Elaine Smith, 53, also of Riverside. Smith was a teacher at the school.

The two students struck by gunfire were standing behind Smith, the police chief said.

Jonathan Martinez, 8, died at Loma Linda University Medical Center after being airlifted from the school, the police chief said. The other student, a 9-year-old boy, was listed in stable condition at the medical center, according to the hospital.
Police do not believe the two children were targeted; they happened to be near the teacher.

Burguan said that at the time of the shooting there were 15 students from grades one through four in the special needs classroom, along with two adult aides.

Thankfully, the 9-year-old boy shot is in stable condition.

It is heartbreaking that Jonathan Martinez was killed just because he was standing near his teacher.

Anderson was set on murdering his wife. He had a target, and that's evil to the core. But how could he shoot two children?

Anderson murdered a little boy. It's absolutely sickening.

The police chief said Anderson "does have a criminal history."

Court records showed that he had faced criminal charges of brandishing a weapon, assault and crimes against public peace in 2013, with those charges later "dismissed or not prosecuted." There had also been two petitions for temporary restraining orders filed against him by women in previous years.

Anderson had a history of violence and a criminal history, but he wasn't punished in the legal system.

How do we respond to this?

We pray for the victims and their families. We pray for everyone affected by the shootings.

That's good and it does matter. But is that enough?

The violence is in the news for a while until a new story pushes it out of the way. Attention quickly shifts, especially on the national level.

We move on, while the families of the victims deal with the tragedy for the rest of their lives. The children and adults who lived through the nightmare have a heavy burden to bear as well.