Two weeks ago, a video began circulating on social media. A video much more morbid than the romantic Extra gum commercial, much less comical than the ridiculous hooded Kermit running around, much more despondent than our beloved Gavin Vines.

Two weeks ago, “Evan” came on to the scene.

“Evan” is a video that begins with a high school boy sitting in the school library, writing on one of the tables. Soon after, he receives a response to his own message. With light-hearted acoustic guitar and soft vocals, the video then travels through Evan’s journey to find his mysterious message girl, in class, at lunch, online. At the end of the school year, Evan finds her. They talk and laugh as they begin their budding romance.

A boy walks in cocking a rifle.

The music fades to sound like an old record player; that same sunshiny music now echoing and ringing in your headphones.

“While you were watching Evan, another student was showing signs of planning a shooting. But no one noticed,” the screen ominously reads.

And sure enough, there was. Clips are replayed to highlight the boy behind Evan in almost every shot: sitting alone at lunch, watching videos of shootings, getting bullied, leaving ominous threats on social media. Yet somehow, this is unnoticeable to most viewers.

“I was entirely unaware of what was transpiring outside of the focused plot line,” said senior Andrew Tindall. “It was a twist that left me speechless.”

The video made by the Sandy Hook Foundation (founded after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School just two years ago) serves to prove that most people are unaware of the obvious signs of gun violence, though they are preventable.

“I understand gun violence is a huge issue that needs to be addressed, I just don’t really know what it looks like,” claimed senior Tyra Day.

However, other students believe that gun violence in the video is portrayed less than realistically.

“The message [that this is preventable]: yes. The portrayal: not entirely. The signs are definitely there, but not blatant like in the video,” argued Andrew.

The evidence of the Sandy Hook shooting bears evidence to Andrew’s claim. The 20-year-old Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, killed 20 first-graders and six staff members on Dec. 14, 2012. According to several sources like Yale Daily News and ABC News, Lanza had suffered from sensory-integration disorder, Asperger syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder and potential schizophrenia. While three out of four of these had officially been diagnosed, his mother took him off of his prescribed medication. Still, Lanza was said to have been enthralled by the Columbine and Northern Illinois University Shooting. Though some obvious and some subtle, the signs were clearly still there that Lanza had a tendency toward gun violence.

And the stories of school shootings don’t end there. On Jan. 16, 2013, 17-year-old Tyrone Lawson was killed on the Chicago State University campus after leaving a high school basketball game. On June 10, 2014, a 15-year-old gunman killed a freshman and himself during one school day in Oregon. On Feb. 2, 2016, four people were seriously injured during a high school basketball game in Michigan. Just two months ago, six-year-old Jacob Hall was killed in a shooting at his South Carolina elementary school.

Is gun violence so difficult to prevent? How many more men, women and children need to die before real initiative is taken? Are the warning signs as inconspicuous as we think they are?

“Evan” is a powerful video, not just for its shock factor, but for its driving purpose. School shootings are a serious issue that can happen in any city, even ours. And as horrifying as that is to think about, that fear should instead be translated into action. Be careful of those who take excessive study in firearms. Stand up for those who are victims of long-term bullying. Overall, this extensive list can be summed up quite nicely into two key components:

Be thoughtful of everyone around you, and be conscientious of suspicious actions.

And the rest will follow.