We ask for everyone to continue your prayers for this young lady, Claire Davis, who was critically shot by a fellow student, 18-year-old Karl Pierson, at Arapahoe High school in Centennial, Colorado last Friday afternoon.
More than 48 hours after she was shot at point-blank range by her fellow student, she still remains in a coma. Her parents issued a statement Sunday saying that she was in stable but critical condition. “The first responders got Claire to the right place, at the right time, and the doctors and hospital staff are doing a wonderful job taking care of her,” the statement read. “We appreciate your continued good thoughts and prayers, and will provide updates as her condition improves.”
That statement was echoed by Colorado governor John Hickenlooper who visited Claire at Littleton Adventist Hospital Sunday. “We all have to keep Claire in our thoughts and prayers,” Hickenlooper told CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ Sunday.
Davis was the only victim of Friday’s shooting which authorities said lasted only 80 seconds and ended in the gunman’s suicide. Authorities believe Pierson was nursing a grudge since September against teacher Tracy Murphy, a librarian and head of the school debate team, Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said. A statement from Littleton Public Schools Sunday asked that the privacy of Murphy and the students be respected, and added that a plan was being finalized to allow students to collect their belongings from the school later this week. Hickenlooper and Robinson both credited security procedures adopted after the 1999 massacre at nearby Columbine High School for helping put a quick end to the shooting Friday. “It’s nice to see how well the system worked. It’s a remarkable improvement from before. This could be much, much worse,” Hickenlooper said.
I’m not here to speak for or against in this article, but obviously and unfortunately, gun control became one of the first issues of discussion less than three days past this tragic incident which is still under investigation. Colorado has recently implemented new gun control measures, which again, I intend not to discuss here. We need God to spread healing over Claire and lift her family during this time and there will be plenty of time for that discussion later. The governor did state however, “Everyone in Colorado is asking the same questions. On the one hand there is a deeply held conviction for the freedoms laid out in the Second Amendment, but also a very, very strong conviction about the safety of children and the safety of the community.” Friday’s shooting, he said, “defies any explanation, and you know we are searching for some pattern.”
I simply pray, and ask for everyone’s prayers, for God’s healing hands to be placed on Claire and that the political side of things do not interfere with a thorough investigation of Friday’s incident and that everyone will give the Davis family time to heal and recover before completely turning it into a political issue as always seems to occur.
I ask you to join me in those prayers.
Click here to read my most recent article on the school shooting: https://fggam.org/arapahoe-school-shooting-targeted-debate-team-teacher/