Sandy Hook parent speaks out amidst Maine mass shooting

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Parents of Sandy Hook Elementary students who died 11 years ago once again watched on as an investigation continues into a mass shooting in Maine.

Mark Barden, CEO and co-founder of the Sandy Hook Promise, has been working to curb mass shootings for the past decade.

“These things don’t happen in a vacuum,” he said. “There are always warning signs.”

Sandy Hook Promise is a national nonprofit organization founded and led by several family members whose loved ones were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. 

Barden’s son, Daniel, was one of the 26 students shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012. He was seven years old.

Relating to the pain victims’ families are dealing with in Maine, Barden added, “It’s an awful thing have to go through, especially knowing how my little Daniel died cowering in the bathroom, ultimately being shot by an AR-15.”

Police are still searching for a suspect they believe to be the gunman.

Citing rising mass shootings across the country since his son’s passing, Barden finished, “From that day, I made a promise to do everything to prevent having other families endure this lifetime of pain.”