NASW-CA Statement On Mass Shooting at Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority In San Jose, CA

Paul Delacruz Megia, 42 

Taptejdeep Singh, 36 

Adrian Balleza, 29 

Jose Dejesus Hernandez III, 35 

Timothy Michael Romo, 49

Michael Joseph Rudometkin, 40 

Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63 

Lars Kepler Lane, 63.

These are the names of the victims of yet another mass shooting, this time at a public transit rail yard in San Jose, CA on May 26th, 2021. The NASW-CA Chapter would like to extend our condolences to the families of these eight victims. At the same time, we mourn not only for these eight souls needlessly lost, but also for all those whose lives are lost due to daily gun violence. 

So many have become numb to the daily and avoidable loss of precious lives in our communities. Every human being deserves to go to work, to school, to church, or the grocery store, to go about their lives without the threat of violence, whether targeted or random. No excuse is good enough for inaction, particularly in incidents such as this where there are clear pathways to preventative strategies. It is past time to not just offer words of solace, but to act and push our leaders to put a stop to this ongoing epidemic. We, as social workers, guided by our Code of Ethics, have the duty to speak up for justice and to speak out against injustice. We once again renew our calls for reforms to our gun legislation and implore our state and national leaders to take a stand and work to establish policies and prudent safeguards that maintain the safety and well-being of our communities. They deserve better.