Deaf Teenagers Report

In September of 2016, a deaf 18 year-old male was tragically killed when a gunman approached him and his deaf friends in California. The gunman frantically asked the teenagers questions; however, they tried to explain that they could not hear him. Additionally, the teenagers attempted different methods to try to explain to the gunman that they could not hear him; for example, one member of the group attempted to use his cell phone and write that they cannot hear him. He wrote to the gunman, “we are deaf. We can’t hear you. We don't understand what you are saying to us.” It is further reported that while they were trying to explain their situation to the gunman, he still shot one of the deaf teenagers. It was later reported that the gunman