Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Former School Shooter Jon Romano Wants to Advocate for Gun Reform After Prison Release

Former School Shooter Jon Romano Wants to Advocate for Gun Reform After Prison Release
(BasedShaman/YouTube)

Former gunman Jon Romano opened fire at Columbia High School 14 years ago this month when he was 16-years-old. Fortunately, there were no fatalities in the shooting that took place in the East Greenbush school.

Now, Romano is making a plea for reducing gun violence. He penned a letter from Coxsackie Correctional Facility in response to an article in the Times Union about the former school principal that put an end to his shooting spree.


On February 9, 2004, Columbia High School students found themselves running for cover when shots rang out around 10:30 AM. Unlike the Parkland, Florida, school shooter Nikolas Cruz, Romano did not have am AR-15 assault-style firearm.

Instead, he fired two rounds from a pump-action shotgun and was disarmed by Columbia High's principal John Sawchuk before anyone could get seriously hurt. As he was tackled by Sawchuk, the teen managed to shoot a third round, striking a teacher in the leg.

If Romano had access to the same rifle Cruz brandished that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the consequences would've been more devastating.



Romano was seven months shy of legally obtaining an AR-15 when the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act expired.

"I think a lot of people would have been dead," Sawchuk told Chris Churchill in the Albany paper. "I didn't think it would ever happen in our school," he said, referring to mass shootings plaguing the country. "Even when it was happening, I didn't think it was happening. I thought it was an explosion in the gym."



Romano wrote Times Union Executive Editor Rex Smith a hand-written letter, calling the retired principal a "hero who I owe my life to."

I know whenever another horrible shooting happens, he and all of my victims are hurt all over again from what I did to them. I want to take away their pain but knowing that I cannot, I want to prevent others from experiencing this pain.

He also praised the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas for calling on politicians to refuse donations from the National Rifle Association.

I believe the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland are courageous and inspiring for demanding action from politicians. Everyone nationwide should accept nothing less than meaningful, life-saving policy changes from their politicians.
Only then could this generation be the last generation that lives in a nation plagued by gun violence.

Romano will be eligible for parole in March, 2021, and he's already made plans for his time outside of prison.

I have taken the steps toward this that I can do from prison, and I intend to advocate for gun safety and mental health reform after my release in 2021.

There were mixed responses to his letter.





While others saw hope.






The system is called into question on how it handles criminals.


Are there enough voices to enact change? Time will tell.


H/T - TimesUnion, TimesUnion2, Twitter, YouTube

More from

Screenshot of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at rally
@Acyn/Blue Sky

Someone Flew A 'Trump Country' Banner Over Bernie And AOC's Packed Rally—And AOC Clapped Back Hard

Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had the perfect response after one of President Donald Trump's supporters flew a banner reading "Folsom Is Trump Country" over a Northern California rally she held with her colleague, Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders.

She brushed off a warning that they were entering “Trump country” as the crowd swelled in deep-red Folsom, a Republican stronghold nestled in Representative Kevin Kiley’s district. Just to drive the point home, a small plane buzzed above the rally, trailing a banner in bold red letters: “Folsom Is Trump Country.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Chuck Grassley speaking to constituents
C-SPAN

MAGA Senator Gets An Earful From Angry Constituents During Iowa Town Hall—And It's Pure Fire

Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley was criticized by his "pissed" constituents during a town hall in Fort Madison this week who demanded why he hasn’t taken stronger action to hold President Donald Trump and his administration accountable as tensions escalate with the Supreme Court.

Those in attendance were galvanized by the Trump administration’s refusal to comply with a unanimous Supreme Court order instructing the White House to “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Garcia was mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador known for its reputation for torture.

Keep ReadingShow less

People Share Their One Key Rule For A 'Friends With Benefits' Relationship

Friends with benefits can seem like a good idea... in theory.

Everybody has a carnal itch to scratch now and again.

Keep ReadingShow less
Andy Hopper; Lauren Ashley Simmons
Lone Star Left/YouTube

MAGA Lawmaker Schooled By Democrat After He Tries To Claim That Intersex People Don't Exist

In another case of Republican legislation based on ignorance, Texas MAGA Republican state Representative Andy Hopper embarrassed himself on the Texas House floor with a little help from Democratic Representative Lauren Ashley Simmons.

Hopper sought to add an amendment to a funding bill for the University of Texas at Austin to penalize the school for not eliminating any reference to non-White, cisgender, heteronormative people in their curriculum.

Keep ReadingShow less
Lil Nas X
Leon Bennett/Getty Images

Lil Nas X Speaks Out In Viral Video After He's Hospitalized For Facial Paralysis

Rapper Lil Nas X spoke out in a video on Instagram after he lost control of the right side of his face, explaining his current struggles with facial paralysis.

He appeared to be in good spirits in a short video posted Monday, seemingly filmed from a hospital bed. In the caption, the two-time Grammy winner—real name Montero Lamar Hill—said he had “lost control of the right side of my face,” but didn’t share any additional details about the cause or nature of the condition.

Keep ReadingShow less