Mass Shootings Strike (Too) Close to Home for Hams

There are indirect ham radio connections to two recent mass shootings. Peggy Veal, KD0ISN, the mother of 2015 Newsline Young Ham of the Year Anna Veal, W0ANT, is a teacher at the Highlands Ranch STEM School outside of Denver where two students allegedly killed one other student and injured several more in early May. Peggy's husband, Paul, N0AH, told Newsline's Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, that her classroom is directly across from the room where the shooting took place and has bullet holes in it. Anna herself is a recent graduate of the school and her dad said she rushed home from college to be with her friends at memorials.

In addition, the father of the accused San Diego synagogue shooter is a ham who is also a high school teacher and advisor to his school's amateur radio club. It was reported that the accused shooter had been a member of that club while in high school but it does not appear that he ever became a ham himself.