Vice President Kamala Harris found out one of the toughest aspects of being a presidential candidate on Wednesday -- trying to comfort the nation after another tragic school shooting.

Two students and two teachers were killed and nine other were transported to the hospital after a 14-year-old gunman opened fire at Apalachee High School in Windsor, Ga. The student/shooter was taken into custody.

Harris called the incident a "senseless tragedy" and offered her condolences to the victims' families. While speaking at a campaign rally in New Hampton, N.H., Harris took time out of her speech contrasting her economic plan with rival Republican Donald Trump's to weigh in on the latest incident of gun violence in the US.

"It's just outrageous that every day in our country, in the United States of America, that parents have to send their children to school worried about whether or not their child will come home alive," Harris told rally attendees. "We've got to stop it ... it doesn't have to be this way."

Yet it is, as Statistia has recorded 35 incidents of school shootings so far in 2024. That follows a record year of 82 in 2023. Incidents are up by nearly 450% since 2008, when there were 18 school shootings reported nationally.

Harris related a story to the crowd that many in attendance could relate to -- school shooting drills. She said during a tour of colleges and trade schools last year she asked for a show of hands of whose who had been involved in classroom shooter training.

"Every time the auditorium was packed, and almost every hand went up," she said, arguing that class time should not be interfered with by "being concerned about a shooter busting through the door of the classroom."

That's what happened at about 10:30 a.m. EDT, when the shooter apparently was unable to gain entry into his classroom before he opened fire on another. He claimed multiple victims before the school's resource officer was able to get him to surrender.

The school authorities shifted into a "hard lockdown after reports of gunfire." After the all-clear was given, parents were invited to the school to be reunited with their children, with long lines of vehicles visible outside.