School shooter Jon Romano has caused a stir online after seemingly becoming a social media influencer. The new internet personality opened fire at Columbia High School, East Greenbush, New York, in 2004. He wounded a teacher in the leg and spread fear among several children and parents.
Jon Romano was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, he served 17 years before being released in December 2020.
Romano was 16 years old when he opened fire inside the educational institution. Now, he claims on social media that he wants “to be a part of the solution” rather than be “a part of the problem.” As he continues to go viral across social media platforms, netizens have expressed outrage over his popularity.
In one of the many videos Jon Romano had uploaded on his TikTok account, where he has now amassed over 250K followers, he said:
“There’s been a lot of supports. There’s actually classmates and their family who are in the comment section of my videos, you just don’t realize it. There’s also those who reach out to me to share with me the trauma that they endured at my hands, the pain, the suffering, the anguish that they still feel to this day and I’m open to it." "I wanna be helpful however I can and if that includes people reaching out and sharing that pain then by all means, I’m very open to it,” he added.In another TikTok video, Romano said:
“My goal is not redemption for the school shooting I committed, my goal is prevention of other school shootings. That’s why I’m on here, that’s why I share.”Along with amassing fame online, Romano has been working at the Community Connections Drop-In Center in the poorer neighborhoods of Arbor Hill. He has also amassed over 7000 followers on his official Instagram account.
Netizens react to Jon Romano’s online popularity
Internet users were shocked by the former convict now amassing support online. Some could also not believe that he was only sentenced to 20 years. The fact that he made it out of prison also left netizens horrified. Others could also not believe that he was seemingly turning into a social media influencer. A few reactions to his rising fame read:
TikTok user @youcancallmekait also expressed outrage over Jon Romano’s online popularity following his prison release. She said in a video:
“Here’s the problem a lot of us are having with his whole school shooter having a platform situation; he could very easily be doing what he does in private… the fact that that man is allowed to walk in and be an inspirational speaker inside of schools is what I have a problem with.”As of September 28, CNN reports that there have been 54 school shootings in the US in 2023. Of these, 37 were attacks on K-12 school grounds. All the shootings left at least 27 injured, while more than 55 people were injured.
It seems like Jon Romano’s life has not been free of violence even after being imprisoned. In September 2022, he was a victim of a sword attack. This left him in critical condition for several weeks. The assailant is currently serving jail time for his actions.
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