Officials at two Baltimore County schools were helping students deal with the loss of two schoolmates ? young brothers who were slain over the weekend, along with their parents ? and the absence of another, their 15-year-old brother, who is in jail, charged with the four murders.
Gregory Browning, 14, and his brother, Benjamin, 11, attended Cockeysville Middle School. Nicholas Browning is a student at Dulaney High School.
The younger boys, along with their father John Browning, 45, and mother, Tamara, 44, were found dead in their Cockeysville home Saturday around 5 p.m. by Nicholas Browning as he returned home, Baltimore County police said. The teen confessed to killing his family, police said.
“We?re certainly acknowledging what happened, as it was a very tragic event, but we?re also trying to keep the focus on the school day to make it as normal as possible,” Charles Herndon, Baltimore County Public Schools spokesman, told The Examiner. “We?ve got a traumatic-loss team at each of the two schools to help them through this terrible event.”
The counselors talk to the students as a group and also are available for one-on-one counseling.
Herndon added that principals at the two schools also read a statement after students they had gathered Monday for classes.
Police were at a loss to explain the killings other than to say Nicholas Browning ? who has been charged as adult ? had been having disagreements with his father. Browning was denied bail Monday.
The Salisbury-based Focus Adolescent Services, an Internet clearinghouse of information and resources on teen and family issues, says teens often act without thinking first.
FAS adds that when youth are angry or depressed, they are more likely to harm themselves or others if they have easy access to a gun.
Baltimore County police spokesman Bill Toohey said the department tries to spread the word to keep kids away from guns through the Police Athletic League program.
“That message is woven throughout middle and high schools by way of the schools? resource officers,” Toohey said. “The message [in keeping guns out of the hands of kids] is understanding and avoiding them.”
