A chilling new PSA by Sandy Hook Promise that debuted on TODAY Wednesday depicts students showing off their new school gear like backpacks, binders and jackets as a school shooting erupts, prompting the items to take on unintended uses.
"These new sneakers are just what I needed for the new year," a student running from a shooter says.
"These new socks? They can be a real lifesaver," another student says as she uses them for a tourniquet on a classmate wounded by a bullet.
In another moment, a boy uses his new skateboard to break a window in his classroom to escape the mayhem.
The clip concludes with a girl crying in the bathroom as she texts her mother that she loves her, before the door opens and the sound of footsteps can be heard.
"I finally got my own phone to stay in touch with my mom,'' she says tearfully.
The clip, titled "Back to School Essentials," is part of Sandy Hook Promise's "Know the Signs" campaign that looks to educate students, teachers and parents about seeing the signs of a potential school shooter and intervening before it's too late.
U.S. & World
Potential signs include an obsession with firearms, aggressive behavior over minor incidents, social isolation, threatening behavior and talking about plans for suicide, according to the organization.
More information, including a longer list of warning signs, can be found at SandyHookPromise.org.
Sandy Hook Promise released a PSA last year that depicted a school shooting through the eyes of the gunman. That clip followed powerful PSAs like "Tomorrow's News" and "Evan" that also show the warning signs of gun violence in schools.
The organization was formed in the wake of the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, that claimed the lives of 20 children and six adult staff members.
Every year about 2,277 of those killed by guns are children 18 and under, according to Sandy Hook Promise. Most mass shootings are planned six months to a year before they are carried out, and in almost every documented case, there were warning signs that were not acted upon or shared.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
