Big Questions Linger After School Shooting

The shock of Wednesday’s killing of a 15-year-old boy lingers over CW Jefferys C.I. in North York and across the entire GTA. And while friends, family and total strangers try to process the murder of Jordan Manners, there are so many questions that remain.

The biggest one, as it always is in these types of tragedies, is why? Why would someone take the life of a kid nearly everyone has described as either ‘decent’, ‘quiet’ or ‘gifted’? Reports of a prank involving fireworks continue to circulate, but police haven’t revealed a motive for the gruesome crime.

Then there’s the issue of the killer. Was he from the school? Do other kids know who he is? And was he hiding out in the very locked down classrooms with other students who were being protected from him? The kids were forced to stay behind locked doors for at least four hours as heavily armed ETF officers and the K9 unit swept the building. There are unconfirmed reports cops asked all those who finally left to leave their knapsacks behind so they could be searched for the murder weapon.

Parents also have questions about how they were – or in most cases weren’t – informed about the siege. The school is home to 850 students and the mothers and fathers of most of them came to the lawn on the front campus during the long wait. Many were incensed they weren’t being told anything by police for hours, as they sought assurance that their kids were safe.

Another query that will have to be addressed: does the school itself need more security and if so, what form should it take? No one wants to see metal detectors and armed guards posted at any educational institution in the city, but an increasing number of schools are arming themselves with closed circuit cameras, an extra eye that can be where authorities can’t.

And the final question may be equally hard to answer: will students at the school be able to finish their year with any sense of security? Many admitted on Wednesday they wouldn’t be coming back the next day because the killer who wielded that deadly weapon is still out there and they don’t feel safe. CW Jefferys, which is located in one of the city’s more troubled areas, has always been an oasis from the ongoing tumult and violence in the neighbourhood – until 2:38pm Wednesday afternoon, when something that may have been as simple as a stupid fight turned into a moment of madness that will last a lifetime.