The chilling reality of gun violence is laid bare in the story of Mia Tretta, a 21-year-old Brown University student who has survived not one, but two school shootings. Her experience is a stark reminder of the pervasive threat of gun violence in the United States, and the urgent need for change.
As authorities investigate the tragic shooting at Brown, which claimed the lives of two students and injured nine others, the campus and community grapple with a profound sense of loss and insecurity. For Mia, this tragedy hits close to home, bringing back haunting memories of her own brush with death.
In 2019, when she was just 15, Mia was shot in the abdomen during a mass shooting at her high school. Her close friend, Dominic Blackwell, and another student, Gracie Anne Muehlberger, lost their lives that day. Mia and two other students were also injured. Now, four years later, she finds herself reliving the horror as another active shooter terrorizes her university.
"It was terrifying," Mia recalls of the recent incident at Brown. "I assumed it was a false alarm at first, like the fire alarm going off with no fire. But then the texts kept coming, hundreds of them." The university's message to "Run, hide, fight" sent a chilling message that this was no drill.
Mia's experience highlights the shocking frequency of mass shootings in the US. Gunshot wounds have become the leading cause of death for teens, with Black youth in underserved neighborhoods facing the highest risk. While shootings and homicides have declined since their peak in 2020-2021, the Gun Violence Archive reports nearly 400 incidents so far in 2025 where four or more people, excluding the shooter, were hit by gunfire.
"Gun violence has impacted every part of my life, and it will continue to," Mia says. "Our politicians' job is to keep us safe, but if we can't even walk to the supermarket or attend class without fear of being shot, they're failing us. I don't know what it will take for people, especially politicians, to take action."
Mia is not alone in her tragic experience. There is a growing cohort of young adults who have survived multiple mass shootings. Zoe Weissman, a fellow Brown student who survived the recent shooting, was just 12 when she witnessed a shooting at her middle school in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 people dead. And at least two students who survived the 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan had to endure another school shooting years later at Michigan State University.
The national vigil for all victims of gun violence, organized by the Newtown Action Alliance, brought Mia face-to-face with the devastating impact of shootings. She heard from dozens of people, some who had lost loved ones and others, like herself, who had been injured by bullets. It was a powerful reminder that shootings and violence know no boundaries.
"Gun violence doesn't discriminate," Mia says. "It doesn't care if you've been shot before, if you're at an Ivy League institution, or in the inner city. It's a threat to us all."
As we grapple with the aftermath of yet another school shooting, Mia's story serves as a powerful call to action. It's time to address the root causes of gun violence and find solutions that will make our communities safer for everyone.
