Central High School student William Parsons was 15. He was waiting for his father to pick him up after school outside the Providence Career and Technical Academy. But the studious, well-liked teenager was standing in the wrong place.

Nearby a 16-year-old boy, who wasn’t a student, was arguing with three other people. Suddenly, according to reports, he pulled a handgun from his waistband and fired. The bullet struck William, penetrating his check and neck and lodging in his spine. He was pronounced dead not long afterward.

It was the second day of school.

Soon the familiar scenes began to unspool: A shrine built of flowers, candles and ribbons; friends of the victim describing what a good person he was; the police press conference; the vigil; the official statements; the word that counselors were available to help students deal with their shock.

“We’re heartbroken,” said Providence Supt. Christopher N. Maher. “Everyone feels this was a senseless tragedy.”

A promising young life, cut short, for no reason except the victim was in the path of a bullet that nobody expected.

After the shooting, the young people who were arguing scattered. In fleeing, the alleged gunman apparently shot himself. Police took him into custody with a bullet wound in his thigh.

They say he apparently was a member of the Hanover Boyz street gang. The suspected shooter, who has not been publicly named because he is a juvenile, has been charged with murder, assault with a deadly weapon and other crimes.

What can be said about such horrors?

This was not a failure of school security. It happened outside the schools. As for gun laws, it is already illegal for a 16-year-old to carry or purchase a handgun.

As we wrote this, police were tracing the weapon. Perhaps we will learn how the shooter got his hands on a gun. Was it stolen? Did a dealer sell a firearm to someone he shouldn’t have?

The shooting does seem to underscore a terrifying shift in our culture. Teenage boys have always had disagreements. They fought with fists — perhaps with knives. Using all-too-readily available guns — obscenely so — in arguments seems to be a more recent development.

The good work that has been done in the community teaching young people about the peaceful resolution of differences must continue. We are grateful, too, to Providence teachers who stepped in to demonstrate their concern and comfort students.

Other questions come to mind.

At what point did the normal systems of adult supervision break down? Was anyone paying attention to the suspected young shooter? How did he store his weapon? Did adults in his life know how he was spending his time, and with whom?

We cannot create a perfect society, where everyone will always be safe from the consequences of others' behavior. No government program can achieve nirvana. But we can look for ways to connect with each other, to care, to leverage the goodness and concern in most of us.

In the meantime, two young men are gone, one to the grave and the other (almost certainly) to the prison system. A community mourns the aftermath of their chance encounter.

We join Superintendent Maher in expressing our sorrow, and extend our deepest sympathies to the families involved.

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