"Portrait of a person who's not there": Documenting the bedrooms of school shooting victims

[@CBSSundayMorning]

Explore the interactive at cbsnews.com/rooms

[@funawesome2006]

Ok

[@pickleBOB405]

oh my goodness what a beautiful website. I hope their families are doing okay.

[@TheNinjutsuAlchemist]

Gracie’s letters to her future self absolutely wrecked me. Reading a kid telling her future self ‘don’t be nervous! You have so much ahead of you and it’s all gonna be ok’ and knowing what happened to her literally is tearing me up. Thank you to these families for sharing something so deeply personal.

[@Cootiequeen]

I want to look and I don’t. I’m getting tired of watching kids die and not knowing what to do about. Is there information on where to go to be active in preventing these tragic events. How do we organize to stop children from dying from gun violence. I don’t want to stand around waiting for the people we put in charge to do something. They aren’t doing it. We have to but I don’t know how. I hate it.

[@lucilletorres5989]

Thank you to each parent who welcomed us into their child’s private sanctuary. I cried both sad and happy tears.

[@AfraidMonsters]

And yet somehow people owning firearms in urban and suburban areas is STILL legal. Even though it being so literally is the reason for endless crime.

[@thatrandomcockroachunderyo2167]

@@AfraidMonstersbecause they don’t believe it’s the guns faults for some stupid reason 🙄

[@danisaurrus]

​@@AfraidMonstersi understand how you feel, i truly do. as a die-hard texan, i also understand the want to keep our guns. there IS still a such thing as responsible gun ownership.my father has 15 or so guns which he keeps in a finger-print secured gun safe. it is our rights as americans to own guns, point blank, period. there needs to be better and stricter laws on who can obtain these guns, however. RIP to these sweet babies😢

[@die66666]

@@thatrandomcockroachunderyo2167 so you think a gun by itself is responsible for shooting someone? not the literal person shooting said gun? well since you guys always say this ill give you the same response. which this is the equivalent of saying vehicles are the cause for all motor related deaths. not the person behind the wheel.

[@ollieno971]

@@die66666you need to pass test and have a license to operate a car

[@saraoverkamping8143]

Parkland: 17 rooms Columbine: 13 rooms Uvalde: 21 rooms Sandy Hook: 27 rooms Virginia Tech: 32 rooms Saugus: 2 rooms Covenant: 6 rooms Georgia: 4 rooms St.Louis: 2 rooms Oxford: 4 rooms Las Vegas: 59 rooms Pulse Night Club Orlando: 49 rooms Aurora Movie Theater Colorado: 12 rooms Michigan State University: 3 rooms Madison, Wisconsin: 2 rooms We in Europe too counting rooms: Utoya: 77 rooms Winnenden: 15 rooms Erfurt: 16 rooms Serbia: 10 rooms Finnland: 10 rooms Prag: 14 rooms UK: 17 rooms UK: 5 rooms There are so many you should list too, no matter if child or adult, if kid or parent or sibling or grandparent. But how could anyone make a fair count? The only possibility is to know that every victim to gun violence in history had a story, a heart, a soul, a character, a body, a dream, a purpose, a fate, a talent, a mother and a father and a love to give and a love to receive.

[@Kitty-mb4hy]

It's spelled Prague. And Finland. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@saraoverkamping8143]

@@Kitty-mb4hy And I am from germany so I might have switched the languages a bit. But I guess you knew what I meant, didn't you. I can tell you it isn't wrong, just in another language.

[@yourlocalraven489]

@@saraoverkamping8143 Alles gut, an sich is dein Englisch recht gut.

[@saraoverkamping8143]

@@yourlocalraven489 Your german as well 🙃. Dein Deutsch auch!

[@sky3dag0at]

77..?

[@blackmoom]

I have no children. And I simply cannot imagine what it's like for these parents. I wish nothing but peace for them.

[@AfraidMonsters]

And yet somehow people owning firearms in urban and suburban areas is STILL legal. Even though it being so literally is the reason for endless crime.

[@bibianaguadalupeislasherre9880]

You don't have to be parent to know the pain and sadness. It can be an grandparent, uncle, aunt, babysitter or even a family friend. 😭😭😭

[@kaleycooper9111]

@@AfraidMonsters Words will never be able to describe hearing people like LaPierre say “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun” in response to school shootings. It’s unfathomable that people did and do think like this still

[@BBB-to4cc]

The anxiety can be torture. I’m just a step mama but I’ve known my boys since they were 3 and the anxiety literally rips my soul apart. A shooting happened at a festival we went to recently and we had just left minutes before it happened and a 18 year old boy died. Makes me not want to do anything and makes me so scared about them growing up in this world. They gotta learn to drive, they gotta get jobs… It’s almost unbearable

[@parisinthe30sx]

Gun laws only hurt law abiding citizens. Do you think criminals can't get guns on the black market?​ Guns should be legal. Let's see someone break into your house with one. What are you gonna do? Ask them nicely to leave?@@AfraidMonsters

[@Phoenix12305]

This piece was so heavy. I’ve become desensitized when hearing about another school shooting, but this brought back the horror and unimaginable pain that parents face every time it happens. Wow. I never thought of the agony of the left behind bedroom. 😢

[@KellyMay-b9b]

As mean as that sounds, you spoke hard truth. You have to harden your heart to make it through these days. ❤

[@melissagrant4178]

That is how I feel, I become numb when I hear another school shooting have happened, but these picture brough back the pain in my heart

[@AfraidMonsters]

And yet somehow people owning firearms in urban and suburban areas is STILL legal. Even though it being so literally is the reason for endless crime.

[@KellyMay-b9b]

@AfraidMonsters making guns illegal doesn't mean people won't get ahold of them. Drugs are illegal people still do them. There needs to be more done than making them illegal.

[@thatrandomcockroachunderyo2167]

@@KellyMay-b9bexcept having them legal means wayyy more people can get a hold of them. Other places had guns then made them illegal and now they’re doing fine

[@tobydandelion]

I bet Dominic felt so loved, his family let him fill his room with his special interest and got him all those posters and plushies and sweaters of it. I bet his home life was so lovely. What amazing parents.

[@literallylandfill]

it makes me so sad. i dearly hope he can rest easy. what a beautiful soul

[@aveliese]

So sweet.. taken from such lovely parents 😢

[@michelleb7399]

I lost my own, and only, child exactly 8 years and three days ago. His birthday is in 12 days. I kept his room as it was for a couple years then I photographed everything before allowing myself to begin changing it, giving things away, etc. Not everything is gone but his room has gone through some transitions over the years. The albatross of not knowing what to do is so true. My situation is different as he died from a health issue (cancer-related). If it had been something like a school shooting, I think it would be been even harder to change his room. No one should have to know the pain of losing a child. I’m so sorry for these families.

[@Emilia-tx3zw]

❤🙏🏻😥

[@Mellie_H]

Hugs to you, Michelle, from Michigan 💛

[@ericaexplainsitall2135]

So deeply sorry for your loss.

[@susanf4857]

I'm so sorry for your loss 😞❤️

[@soniaalvarado5372]

I’m so sorry for your loss

[@hj5520]

“We had the chance to have her for nine and a half years and that was better than not having her at all” how does your heart not just swell and break at the same time at a father saying that. What a beautiful and awful reality we have where love can be measured by the magnitude of loss but never stolen by it.

[@juord]

Dominic's room breaks my heart, the spongebob posters and plushies, the lunch box, the innocence...

[@kaeliwalls3317]

seeing a 6 year old with the same stuffed animal I got at 20 years old really made me feel so many emotions, my heart just shatters for these children and families💔

[@hooman9554]

One of the girls- Jackie- had the same clothing hangers I used. It's heartbreaking to think about how real they were, not just a statistic

[@ninja1676]

Yeah for real, Imagine having a child dying so young and them imagine what they would have been if they were still here

[@cathyspinelli9541]

For me it was the orthodontic retainers.

[@kreepykittiez]

If you’re talking about Charlotte Bacon, i have the same bedsheets as her. I’m 21. It’s so surreal and heartbreaking.

[@Wallen_On_Top]

@@cathyspinelli9541for me it was the chocolate Jackie had saved. Knowing she saved that, probably excited to get back to it and eat it, it breaks my heart because she never got to.

[@ravenscry048]

This video should be required viewing for every federal member of Congress ( representative & senators). Maybe their families should view it to.

[@TheLordOfNothing]

We have an illicit gun crisis and a mental health crisis in this country that needs to get addressed. Unfortunately, all congress cares about is arguing with the opposition and won't get any reasonable legislation passed.

[@pisces2569]

Gun advocates have seemed to forget the “well regulated” part of the 2A or that it was never meant for individual gun ownership in the first place

[@bobroberts2371]

@@pisces2569 And anti gun advocates are completely OK with ill acts committed by non gun means. If they really were against ill acts, they would be concentrating on WHY some commit ill acts rather than a singular replaceable HOW.

[@TheLordOfNothing]

KZbin deleted my comment but I agree with you.

[@bobroberts2371]

@@TheLordOfNothing YT censors lots of comments

[@laurenbendik2006]

This is so sad….seeing these kid rooms frozen in time 😭. It really does make it real for the public.

[@laurenbendik2006]

Teared up when the dad said ‘when the room is no longer there, is she’

[@LindaShirley-id2ie]

My 9 year old daughter was killed in an auto accident when her biological father fell asleep at the wheel. I was out of my mind with rage and shock and enlisted volunteers to pack up everything in her room. Literally evrrything. I needed containment... even a false sense. Over time, I slowly went through one box to the next and donated much of her belongings. All these years later, I still have 5 large boxes that need to be gone through. Her room was eventually turned into a recording studio by my sound engineer husband. I cannot imagine a more fitting tribute to her life than creative music in her absence. God bless these families. By their courage and love for their child, they bring unprecedented awareness to those willing to see and to listen

[@CharlesStewart-f4b]

Ma'am. Im a 91 yr old curmudgeonly #NavyVeteranKorea. But most important,,father to 5,grandfather of 12 n grt grandfather to 5 n more coming soon. My deepest condolences.

[@nicholaswinebrenner5164]

We are sorry for your loss.

[@cristinaestrella]

I’m so sorry for ur loss, I don’t think I can imagine how awful it must’ve been to have heard the news.. how angry you must’ve felt :( I hope Bio Dad is behind bars because this is so reckless and your husband sounds like a good man. I hope you will eventually have peace, if not now then perhaps in the future.. My father often times fell asleep at the wheel when I was younger when he drove me to and from school, I didn’t blame him since he woke up early most mornings but there’s a reason why I prefer taking the public bus over riding with him

[@psychonautism]

​@@LLawliet-pz1rmare you okay??

[@Reservedintrovert]

@@LLawliet-pz1rmExactly. All that for nothing.

[@sumame47]

This was so sad to watch. Had me in tears.I lost my 24 year old daughter in a mass shooting 11 years ago. We had to go to her apartment to get what we could as the family of her boyfriend (the one who killed her and 3 others) wanted to get in there to get his stuff as well. The apt mgr was kind enough to let us enter first. It was hard going through all of her things in a short amount of time and I know we missed a lot of things. My continued prayers to the families in this story and to all who have lost loved ones in such a senseless fashion.

[@susanf4857]

So sorry for your loss 😔❤️

[@jdrose1000]

I am so sorry! 😢

[@helixxia9320]

💔🌹🕯

[@richardowusu6577]

Sorry for your loss. If you don’t mind me asking wasn’t the boyfriend arrested and prosecuted?

[@lunab.1136]

His family should have not been allowed in

[@HomeMain]

Our son died as an infant, and it took me almost 15 years to put his things away. As I watched this, my husband questioned why I would subject myself to watching this knowing the tears will come. I watch, hurt and cry because no child that leaves this world entirely too early should be forgotten. In any sense. That is why I watch. Out of respect and acknowledgement these beautiful souls that were taken from us all. There is no right or wrong time period for grief and grieving. Leave your angel's room for however long it takes for you to be at peace with changing anything to their space. You need and deserve that.

[@elleseavee9793]

I am so sorry. That is heartbreaking and I hope that you have been able to find some peace. I agree that these beautiful souls should never be forgotten.

[@EricJennings444]

As I watched this, I was reminded of my cousin, my best friend. In 1988 he went into the hospital with pneumonia and died. It was my duty to clean out his apartment. I'll never forget. Every item there had a new, profound meaning. All these years later, the preciousness of those moments seeing, moving, and finally deciding about each of his possessions comes back to me. Thank you.

[@Astral_Dusk]

I had it with my father 8 years ago, passed from acute leukemia. Many emotional months working on his house. Missed as family and a very real person who would really be present and listen at times needed most. I remember a lot of denial too from my mom and sister - took awhile to really open up about it - like society is maybe a little caught off guard with these feelings, so that was unusual too. Like things are suddenly very real in the more distracted modern ways sometimes - I think it's very important to always prioritize some present moments together, perhaps outside, with people we love.

[@amyslingsby6947]

Empathy is lacking everywhere these days. People have mistaken hardness for strength. This project is painful yet beautiful and I hope it helps people see what we’ve done.

[@npepiton]

I'm a grown man and have never cried as much before as I was watching this report. It's so heart wrenching but also the most important story to watch. I pray that these families can find peace and tranquility and I want to thank them for inviting us all into their homes to share their stories. And thank you Steve for bringing us this story. From now on, when I need the energy to carry forward and face an uphill battle, I will think to myself, 'Do it for Hallie.'

[@enoch2562]

Don't be ashamed to cry. It's called empathy. It's what makes us human. I'm a grown man too, and I cried. If anything, the world would be a better place if we cared for one another more.

[@timtibbetts4193]

Well said to both the OP and initial response. I watched this through blurry eyes nearly the entire time. Thank you to everyone who is willing to bring empathy to the world, and thank you endlessly to all of these victims and their families.

[@atlsongbyrd6084]

😢 I thank God that my daughter’s life was spared at that mass shooting last week that happened on a college campus in Alabama. Her friend that was shot survived, but an 18 yr didn’t make it. He died saving another girl. I am beyond blessed. I pray for the 12 wounded and 16 injured.

[@NOTB666-p7v]

So God was there for your daughter and not the 18 year old, got it!

[@fernandaabreu5625]

@@NOTB666-p7v Whatever it is you're on, stop it. It makes you ridiculous and dumb.

[@NOTB666-p7v]

@@fernandaabreu5625 questioning imaginary friends instead of just taking it at face value? Yeah I’m the dumb one for that 🙄

[@Omgqwerty66]

@@NOTB666-p7v this is not a helpful thing to say to someone who literally lost their child.

[@materialgrl2000]

As a reminder columbine was 1999. This is what 25 years of nothing but thoughts and prayers looks like.

[@lordwolffurry582]

we need mental health services to be free, but I doubt that will happen given the current presidency...

[@parrotship-m8d]

​@lordwolffurry582 you guys need to do something with gun control too. Mental health is the main problem of course, but all of these kids are victims of school "shooting" for a reason. It shouldn't be allowed to civils have guns in their homes.

[@heistruth2865]

It is more than just receiving mental health. It is the breakdown in family dynamics, people believing they can do whatever they feel, living their own truth....so many ways we have also contributed to these behaviors as we don't hold people accountable when there are signs instead we want to always say they are depressed or anxious.....

[@kelly_villalobos]

@@lordwolffurry582absolutely. Nothing has been done under Biden’s presidency. Waste of an administration

[@helixxia9320]

💔

[@nightvisiongoggles5929]

Allowing grieving parents to talk about their kids is an amazing service. Thank you cbs

[@porcelainpanelpro]

This story was one of the most profound produced by CBS in the many years Ive been watching. Both my wife and I gave way to tears to the sadness.

[@mickiseymour263]

I can’t image losing a child this way. I never thought about their bedrooms & what the parents faced leaving their rooms exactly the way the child left it. You can’t watch this without shedding tears. 😢

[@reneeparker7475]

I knew a boy, who was killed in an accident in 1966. His mother kept his room as he had left it and even cleaned it, when it was dusty. She died in 1995, a year after her husband, and that was when the room was emptied. She felt his presence there.

[@jeanetteh.9240]

Thank you for letting these parents know that their children are not forgotten.

[@Julie-iv2ln]

I cried through the whole thing. This should not happen. I have a senior in high school who doesn't want to pursue teaching in college because of school shootings, and I know she would be an amazing teacher.

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

That seems silly. Like watching plane crash videos and not flying anywhere b/c of it...even tho you're a billion times or so more likely to die in a car wreck (I know at least 5 people) or even walking than that. She's young. Tell her to live her life! Don't be afraid. OR, get very trained in self-defense and dealing with serious mental issues. The world needs more Torey L. Haydens. She's a brilliant author, talking about her special ed work. Done a lot with lots of kids who might very well have turned into THAT. Library has the books, or can order outside of your library system. Imo, they have or can get, about 90% of anything you want. Chicago has a huge library system, tho.

[@iga1720]

​@@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 I wouldn't call it silly. It's a serious concern. The US absolutely leads the ranking of the most school shoothings in the world (even if you combine other countries they are still far behind).

[@AnnastasciaPfaff]

​@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 except we actually do things to prevent plane crashes. Nothing is being done to prevent school shootings. Not easier acsess to me tal health care, not stricter laws around guns, nothing.

[@noahhawver9889]

This is one of the greatest pieces of journalism I think I’ve ever seen. Such a powerful catalog.

[@p6avi]

corporate america will get upset about a ceo dying but not our children

[@m810x2]

This!!

[@sherryaguilar1232]

Heart crushing.

[@GreySkyLady]

Anyone who watches this and still thinks “thoughts and prayers” is a perfectly fine response probably should evaluate decades of life choices.

[@nova31337]

Sometimes that's all anyone has to give. Stripping away what people need to defend themselves, their families, or just to hunt wild game isn't the solution. The problem is the mental health of the people who feel the need to inflict harm on people. They will just find another way to harm people if you take away firearms.

[@fz7091]

What else can they do? Why not tell this to those who mock said childs death

[@VermyScrubs]

​@@nova31337 Thats not the problem, no one is trying to get rid of basic right to defend but the moment a ban on automatics (You don't need an AR to defend your home mate) is even thought. Its demonized and killed as a "snow ball to total gun bans" because gun manufacturers sell off the NRA, congressmen and other people in government to make pro gun corportate propaganda.

[@Connor37911]

It’s even worse than that. Imagine having your child be killed in a school shouting, then having a bunch of Alex Jones fans or Marjorie Traitor Greene harass you and say it’s all fake, and just admit you are an “actor,” your child never existed and that school shootings never happened. And that half the US population is fine with that.

[@solitopia]

Sorry.. what exactly is wrong with thinking that?

[@galeemigh3277]

This article grabbed my heart and I am moved at the courage it takes to make this kind of report.

[@michaelvaladez6570]

Albatross is a good word to describe the situation. My heart goes out to those who lost a child to this senseless act..blessings to all of them !

[@YourWaifuTrashliness]

I was in college during Sandy Hook. Was sitting in the student lounge several states away. Normal chatter as usual, but then when everyone's started getting news notifications about it as it was happening, the lounge turned into gradual silence where you could hear a pin drop. I'm ashamed to say that I, too, have become mostly desensitized to school shootings over the years since it happens so often. I know that it's natural human instinct to develop a resistance to repeated traumas out of survival to preserve your sanity, but seeing this brought me to tears. And I'm not even a parent myself.

[@hotcocoandart]

The photo that stuck with me the most was the unmade bed. I never made my bed in high school, it was always kinda a mess just like that. It really does feel like someone just left, fully expecting to come home and fall right into that same bed.

[@Cynthia2900]

Everyone grieves in their own way. Only someone who has dealt with the painful loss of a beloved child can understand. And even then we all grieve differently.

[@sumame47]

As I learned in the Grief Share class I took, grief is not a one size fits all emotion. We all grieve in our own way and at our own pace. It has been over 11 years and I still grieve for my 24 year old daughter who was taken too soon. No one should be expected to grieve for a certain amount of time and then get back to a "normal" life. Anyone who demands that just doesn't get it.

[@normajeanreeves5409]

This was ubelieveably difficult to watch. I bawled through out the entire episode. I prayed as I have so many times for the parents because I don't know how to help. I have signed all the paperwork against gun violence. I am a mother of one now adult son, I cannot wrap my brain around any of this. I do understand leaving the rooms as is. 😢🙏☮️

[@februaryandtheclaw]

No more grieving with tears. Who can even think of starting a family today? Where is our ANGER !!!

[@greta2425]

Believe me, I'm outraged!

[@Cosmo302]

My goodness. What a heart wrenching story. I’m sitting here ugly crying for these families. Thank you Steve for your wisdom to document this tragedy and thanks to all the families who had the courage to allow us into their homes and feel what was ripped from their lives. I hope this video will go viral. everyone needs to see the beautiful souls who have been lost to needless violence.

[@sowokehaha]

All of the pictures will stick with me. My husband walked in the living room. And I am literally on the floor crying after watching this story. It makes things real, the things we got so use to hearing it doesn't affect you anymore. This will affect anyone who watches it. We needed this.

[@emxilyk]

I wish I could still believe in humanity enough to carry even the tiniest bit of hope that the final two sentences of your comment could prove to be true…But after seeing the comment section of an article that documented, with actual crime scene pictures and descriptions(but professionally, not in a tabloid-manner but published as a final plea to stop this madness) and testimonies of survivors, the immediate aftermaths of mass shootings where an AK-47 was used to end so many innocent lives, in places of worship too but mostly in schools…Reading the comments left by these people, who ever so often call themselves “Christians” or “ProLife advocates”, who evidently had just seen the same carnage, the same scenes which would be utterly heartbreaking if they happened in an active war zone, the bloody conclusion to so many innocent people’s lives and the aftermath of their “guns first” propaganda, and who still had the nerve to sprout nonsense about “the liberal agenda” and that “many more would’ve died if not for good guys with guns” (even though the article also focused on Uvalde) and that “much more children are stabbed to death in Europe”, that truly made me realise how deranged they are. And unfortunately, they’re deranged and powerful, which is the worst combination. (I don’t recommend seeking out that article, unless the person reading this is pro-gun. If that’s the case, then please go ahead and take a look at the price that innocent individuals, especially children, have to pay for your deranged compensation)

[@sowokehaha]

I showed my teenager this video. They then pulled out their phone and showed me a video of the parkland shooting from inside the classroom with students bleeding and dying I have never seen before. One of the girls bedrooms in this story, is one girl I saw laying in her own pool of blood trying to breathe. My child said video like that are all over social media because kids in those rooms want everybody to see what guns did. If those videos were shown to the public, everyone's views on guns would change.

[@Patrick-o6r]

Please do your homework, if u look at all school shooting under Google image u will see the same crisis actor and same ATF at different school shooting drills, and the story is always the same and they make money on fake news, Trump trying telling people!!

[@RadMad789]

I hope this story helps all of the families featured and the countless others who haven’t shared their stories. But more than that, I hope this story makes a difference.

[@lorrie2878]

Like vote against gun lobbyists?

[@elleseavee9793]

@@lorrie2878Having stricter regulations for obtaining firearms.

[@lorrie2878]

@@elleseavee9793 oh I am aware. I marched in Phoenix for March for Our Lives. Follow David Hogg's career, Maxwell Frost, and others. I donate when I can.

[@judylearn7971]

So devastating, but so worth sharing. How brave of these families to share these sacred spaces.

[@PaulZwilling-oz6de]

Wow. I have never experienced Such emotion from a news story

[@malinia.20]

Bro we are living through a live-streamed genocide. If you've never experienced such emotion from a news story, have you not been paying attention to current events for the past year?

[@terumikami156]

are you incapable of not derailing the conversation? have a heart and stop changing the subject when kids are dying on your own shores, not just someone else's.

[@malinia.20]

@@terumikami156 It's not derailing a conversation to mention the elephant in the room, which is that this country is committing genocide and people are acting like it's not happening. Kids around the world are everyone's. It shouldn't matter what shore they are dying on. If kids are getting killed anywhere, it is my problem and it should be yours, too. If you're able to compartmentalize kids dying far away just because they're far away from you, I'd say you're the one without a heart.

[@juliay4874]

@@malinia.20 you ARE derailing the conversation and you should know about time and place

[@Infernalsabbath]

i have to be honest, i have a four year old daughter and i truly am amazed by the strength of these parents. if my daughter passed i would with her, i could not live in a world that doesn't have her in it. my full condolences to these parents that wake up every day and fight to live another day without their babies. 😢💔

[@Jamie-z8r]

Lol

[@sketchyskies8531]

I’m not a parent, but getting to see these kids’ rooms frozen in time both broke something in me and made me want to give these parents a hug

[@pattylyman7907]

Heart wrenching. Can imagine how heartbreaking everyday is for these parents. I can also imagine the complete anger over the fact that NOTHING 😭 is being done to prevent more dead school children and heartbreak for families.

[@sherriianiro747]

Fortunately, there is a lot being done with pro - active school districts that have detectors and armed officers with thorough screening before entering. Hopefully all school districts will apply the same measures someday, but it's up to the residents to get things done by voting for the safety improvements.

[@lorrie2878]

But no background checks or waiting periods, like if you are the victim of rape or incest. Pro-life is a joke.

[@madworld1808]

Thank you for reporting,sharing your experience.

[@TheChip5303]

This was a very powerful story. Thank you for showing it. Too many times people are *shoulder shrug*.

[@mammaraptor]

As always Steve, you bring such kindness and authenticity to your reporting . Thank you for sharing these dear sweet souls and their families with us. Thank you to the families who allowed their beautiful children to tell their story. May their lives not be in naught and that there be a solution to end these tragedies.

[@michellewilliams7695]

God Bless These Sweet Babies And Their Families

[@bezagebremedhine5102]

🧡🙏

[@Zay-e5p]

I agree the lack of empathy because of the sheer amount of times this has happened shocks me. I just wanna look around and scream don’t ANY OF YOU CARE!? I mean they just lost family, friends, sons, daughters, mothers and fathers. Just hurts my heart that this happens again and again with no end in sight 😢 my prayers go out to all affected. I’m so so sorry

[@NikaLawrie]

Left kind of speechless. Thank you for putting this together and telling this story. We can’t forget them or what’s happened. I see my own daughter in some of the rooms. 😢

[@keatonlitzenberg1762]

This is one of the deepest KZbin videos I have ever watched…. I don’t plan to have kids in my lifetime, but I can’t even imagine the pain.

[@daynasafranek7807]

My generation didn’t worry about school shootings as students, but we have had to suffer them as parents, and now grandparents. How absolutely devastating for these families and I thank them for sharing these precious spaces. ❤

[@soniaalvarado5372]

Thank you for sharing your children’s rooms with us. I can’t imagine what you have all gone through. Hoping for no more shootings and no more empty spaces.

[@margerybritton793]

What are we so carelessly doing to our country and children?❤😢🙏🏽

[@reginar.131]

Ask politicians how they can do the bidding of gun manufacturers over the safety of our children.

[@materialgrl2000]

Profits over people. See the recent election.

[@mikey4016]

We have banned self protection and God, that's what you're doing to our country and children. Back when guns and God were abundant in schools, there wasn't any of this happening.

[@mikey4016]

@@reginar.131 Ask politicians how they can do the bidding of the devil and ban guns and God so this nonsense can happen.

[@Miss.Murphy93]

One of the pictures that really stood out to me was of Halle the 9 yr old, wearing her kitty cat sweatshirt… her father showing us after she had been killed that same sweatshirt that she will never wear again. It’s so sad. I have a 3 yr old daughter and I can’t imagine loosing her in any way but nonetheless in a shooting. I pray over her every day before she goes to school and over her bus drivers and her teachers and the whole school. This hit me and I’m sorry to anyone who has lost a child.

[@deannamadrigal7503]

This was so touching and sad to watch. Can't imagine you doing all the interviews for this segment. Thank you, Steve, for this. Blessings to all these families who shared their stories. 🙏

[@janetucker5963]

Heartbreaking. We as a nation have lost our way…..

[@malinia.20]

You can't exactly lose something that was never there to begin with. We are a nation that is committing genocide at the moment, and has been involved in similar things for the past few hundred years.

[@jerseygirl6221]

It was never found.

[@aliceinwonderland263aj5]

Heart wrenching. And infuriating. Why nothing has been done for so long is completely unconscionable and it feels like we the people have no say. My heart goes out to these families and may all their childrens’ memories be blessings.

[@Here4TheHeckOfIt]

I cried watching this. It's just about the most tragic place one can find themselves in. The fact that their grief means nothing in this country is even more heartbreaking.

[@markchristopher63]

This is one of the most heartbreaking stories I've ever seen. 😥

[@ChonkyCats]

Dang it really does hit you in the feels to see the bedrooms unchanged

[@paillette2010]

We need MORE of this kind of reporting. People are numb to this monstrosity in our country.

[@CathDeStefano]

The changes we need in our world rely on a transformation of our hearts.

[@jydembluejay]

I live in South Florida, not far at all from Parkland. Remember vividly the news from that day. Being on lockdown two blocks from MSD. The empty silence of those rooms amidst all the memories in them is heartbreaking.

[@purplehaze2250]

I have to say, I have become desensitized by the shootings but their empty bedrooms are a powerful reminder of the young lives lost for no reason. We as a country have to do better. No more empty rooms. May these children rest in peace. Excellent reporting.

[@jswa1225]

I can only imagine the added complexity when it is a room that was shared by a sibling

[@jillv4006]

That’s a really profound way to put it…that the rooms have become like an albatross. This photo shoot was an amazing idea and very brave of those parents to open up those very personal, almost sacred, rooms to strangers. These poor parents are torn between moving forward and a tragic moment in time from the past. How do you even physically ever move from those locations-those homes-let alone mentally or emotionally? Prayers for some sort of healing for all of them. I can’t even imagine.😢

[@hexgates]

this is so impactful and important. these aren’t just statistics. these are children, these are people’s whole WORLD. i can only hold out hope for a better future. donate what you can, advocate, educate, and most importantly: show empathy

[@mygirl1129]

grateful to the families. this is the kind of illustration I’m hungry for in the wake of this kind of violence; to know more about the people who were killed and the hardship that rings out for their communities as well as their loved ones. these families offered us so much, they gave up their privacy. my mother introduced me to cbs this morning. ☀️🌞🌟

[@mygirl1129]

CBS Sunday Morning ☀️🌞🌟. Thanks, Mom.

[@Witchy_Hoo]

What a powerful collection of photographs. Thank you to all the parents that reminded us that these children were individuals with lives that were halted by cruel, abnormal circumstances, not some sort of inevitable statistic.

[@Connor37911]

Imagine having this grief, losing a child, and having Alex Jones and fans harass you, saying it’s all fake, your child never existed and you are an actor. And that half the US population thinks that is fine.

[@Melissa-gn3dv]

Just because half the country voted for Trump doesn't mean they all agree with Alex Jones. Most would not. You can't lump people together like that.

[@kierielong975]

Who is harassing these people? That is awful!

[@pinkstarlight]

​@@Melissa-gn3dvexactly

[@Nilzebubula-Na-Gig]

Extremely moving. Thank You so much for All You do, CBS Sunday Morning. You are the Collective Loving Heart of the America I have always cherished . The stories you keep telling enable us to feel and heal the “numbness” that plagues us via other less sentient news. Help Us Help You help US All nurture our Hearts always towards “a more perfect Union.” Blessings from New Mexico 💖

[@joedigital3000]

Thank you for sharing. We should all never forget

[@emyuleeYT]

3:33 i wanna give that dad a hug, hes holding in tears!

[@foggy_onscreen]

My friend lost her little sister in a school shooting. I remember visiting her room, photos all across the walls of her. My friend still talks about her as if she’s still here and it hurts her and i know it but she hides it. Her little sisters room is still in perfect condition with her pajamas lying on her bed ready to put on. My friend told me that she helped he re do her room the night before she passed. May everyone be held by God in such dark times ❤

[@melbymelb23]

This is tremendously impactful. I have tears. My sweet daughters are 7 and 11, I can’t even bring myself to think about what these parents have to endure. I will hug my babies even tighter today ❤️

[@PsycheXCupid]

Uvalde was absolutely tragic. That one hit me hard.

[@ceejay3121]

so sad. My heart goes out to these parents who went through that & still have to go through that everyday. The rest of the country/world moves on until it unfortunately happens but it’s impossible for them and I’m sure every time these senseless tragedies happen it’s like reliving a nightmare for them. R.I.P. to all those kids ❤️

[@Heidi_K_Girl_444]

This broke me. I lost my daughter in a different way, but grief as a parent is horrific. It consumes you.

[@Sarah-ty5ev]

I’m so sorry for the loss of your daughter. May her memory be a blessing ❤

[@Heidi_K_Girl_444]

@Sarah-ty5ev thank you, Sweetheart. Finding others who understand is vital. Love and prayers for you.❤️

[@valkyrie2327]

Heartbreaking. God bless those poor babies.

[@suzannadannaTARDIS]

Profoundly moving segment. Thank you for putting emotions into these pointless losses.

[@kamperonipizza]

This was so beautiful and sad

[@conniebueter9052]

Thank you and prayers for the families to find peace in the madness.

[@pastaisgood6681]

I’m 27, so school shootings have been during most of my life. I’m VERY numb to the whole thing. Now, I’m engaged to get married and we talk about having kids all the time. It just hit me that I’m going to be sending them to school one day and never see them again. I’m crying, this project was incredibly well done. God bless everyone involved and god bless every parent that lost their angels. Baruch HaShem ❤

[@NicolePensiero-f1o]

God bless Steve Hartman. His humanity is boundless. God bless these families even more.❤️

[@dennismorris7573]

So very, very sad, and unnecessary.

[@santanam5718]

This is very necessary, he literally said it in the video we all need to experience this like they have. God bless all those babies souls. 🙏

[@Eveningbreeze721]

​@@santanam5718 I really do think he meant the loss of life. The senseless shootings.

[@mrboatshoe]

I have kids myself and I honestly don't know what I would do with their rooms should anything happen to them. Wonderful story

[@PrincessofPower84]

You can tell that Jackie was a Daddy's girl. Her poor Dad couldn't even speak on camera. 💔

[@heidiavera5071]

Prayers for these beautiful families thank you for your story.

[@jd-hj5ed]

This is touching. These rooms are done for other tragedies as well. My next door neighbor lost his teenage son. He was such a wonderful teenager...full of life. He died at home. I don't know for sure what happened. I don't want to hurt him by asking. He told me his sons room is preserved just the way it was then. I don't see how he handles it. I don't think I could look in there without crying my eyes out. Much respect for the people in the video. So sorry you had to go through this.

[@cfbg]

And certain people want to do nothing about it.

[@mikey4016]

Yep, they just want to have a pity party and keep trying to take away more rights. Rather than restoring rights, getting God and guns back in schools and eliminating this evil that has taken over the country ever since women were allowed to vote in all of this evil.

[@daniellekrammel4211]

I am literally reading a book about Colombine. Watched a few videos interviewing survivors 25 years later. But this is what made the tears flow. I haven't cried reading or watching anything until this one. Seeing little Hallie's mother and father made me lose it. The Covenant shooting hit me hard because we once drove right by that area on our travels to TN.

[@kwanzaa_cake]

This has to be one of the saddest things i’ve ever watched. In my life. I’m not a parent but a teacher, and I fear a shooting every day at work. This is a profound video- and something I hope people see for years to come.

[@Nopety-Nope]

I can't think of anyone who doesn't have empathy for these children. Thank you for documenting their rooms. I miss my kids when they leave for school. I feel their energy in their rooms and see all their projects. I know these parents hurt.

[@depiglio]

"They say when a parent dies, a child feels his own mortality. But when a child dies, it's immortality that a parent loses." - Jessica Lange, American Horror Story Season 1

[@racourdav]

One of the saddest things I've ever seen. Prayers of strength to these families; RIP to their beloved children.

[@tobechukwuolumba7337]

Soul crushing.

[@missycitty9478]

I can not imagine the pain they feel every day. 😢

[@JoiLeGrand]

What a beautiful piece.