CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Teacher Jessica Salfia was putting up graduation balloons last month at her West Virginia high school when two of them popped, setting off panic in a crowded hallway between classes.One student dropped to the floor.
Two others lunged into open classrooms. Salfia quickly shouted, "It’s balloons! Balloons!" and apologized as the teenagers realized the noise didn’t come from gunshots.The moment of terror at Spring Mills High School in Martinsburg, about 80 miles northwest of Washington happened May 23, the day before a gunman fatally shot 19 children and two teachers in a classroom in Uvalde, Texas.
The reaction reflects the fear that pervades the nation’s schools and taxes its teachers — even those who have never experienced such violence — and it comes on top of the strain imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.The community is mourning the victims of last week's school shooting as funerals start this week.
All of this, along with growing outrage over what appears to be a bungled response to the mass shooting by local law enforcement.Salfia has a more direct connection to gun threats than most.