The Atlantic

My Life Since the 2012 Sandy Hook Shooting: Scarlett Lewis's Story

“I decided following Jesse’s murder that I would take my part of the responsibility for what happened to my son.”
Source: Jessica Hill / AP

Editor’s Note: This is one in a series of conversations with those who have survived high-profile shootings or lost loved ones to them. The other interviews, as well as background about the series, can be found here.

After Scarlett Lewis lost her 6-year-old son Jesse in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting of 2012, she turned immediately to researching the root causes of the sort of violence that killed her child. She quickly became convinced that one thing that matters immensely in the context of mass shootings is

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