Mother of Sandy Hook victim is on a mission to stop school violence

Nicole Hockley and her husband, Ian Hockley.
(Image credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

It's been four years since 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, were brutally murdered by a gunman. In the days after the tragedy, Nicole Hockley — whose younger son, 6-year-old Dylan, died in the arms of his special education assistant, and older son, Jake, survived the shooting — cofounded Sandy Hook Promise, an organization dedicated to preventing gun violence, working for stricter gun laws, and bringing attention to mental health education.

In an interview with Vogue.com Wednesday, Hockley spoke about warning signs — excessive bullying, chronic social isolation, and vocal threats — and stressed the importance of speaking to school officials, law enforcement, and mental health professionals. It's also pertinent, she said, to speak about guns and mental health together: "Let's talk about how we ensure that only the right people are able to access guns, and how we can help people before they reach the point of picking up a gun to hurt themselves or someone else. That's not something you can necessarily legislate for. That's a social change."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.