At the age of 20, Zoe Weissman has experienced the harrowing ordeal of surviving two mass shootings, an uncommon and traumatic occurrence for anyone. The sophomore found herself in her dorm at Brown University on December 13 when she received an alarming call from a friend, immediately suspecting a shooting had taken place.
Weissman’s first brush with gun violence was in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where she was outside the adjacent middle school when the tragic Valentine’s Day massacre unfolded, claiming the lives of seventeen individuals when she was just 12 years old. This experience deeply affected her, leading to struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and a commitment to gun violence prevention activism.
During the recent shooting incident at Brown University, Weissman instinctively went into survival mode, a response honed by her generation’s exposure to lockdown drills and the pervasive threat of school shootings. As the situation unfolded, she secured her dorm room and remained in lockdown until the following morning, anxiously monitoring news updates and seeking comfort from her family.
The shooting at Brown University resulted in two fatalities and multiple injuries, with the alleged perpetrator eluding authorities for five days before being found dead. The incident adds to the grim statistics of mass shootings in the United States, with 394 such incidents reported in 2025 alone, as documented by the Gun Violence Archive.
Weissman, grappling with grief, anger, and frustration, emphasizes the personal toll of gun violence and the urgent need for reform. She highlights the necessity of preventing individuals intent on violence from accessing firearms without infringing on the rights of law-abiding citizens. Weissman’s advocacy for gun reform is fueled by her firsthand experiences, a sentiment echoed by fellow survivor Mia Tretta, who was shot at Saugus High School in 2019 and recently faced another shooting at Brown University.
Both survivors find solace in their shared activism and discussions about future initiatives to combat gun violence. Weissman underscores the importance of personal engagement in the fight for gun reform, emphasizing the collective responsibility to prevent such tragedies from recurring.
Their experiences at Brown University serve as poignant reminders of the pervasive impact of gun violence and the imperative for decisive action to safeguard communities against its devastating effects.