A director from Chula Vista is telling the true story of someone who was almost a school shooter. It's a perspective we rarely hear, but the two men say we must listen to it.
The movie titled "Just Another Tuesday" centers around Aaron Stark, who did a TEDx talk last year about how he almost became a school shooter. It has been viewed nearly 10 million times.
Jonny Santana, a filmmaker, was also one of those viewers.
"I break down crying at work and I realize this is the story I need to tell, we need to tell," said Santana.
Stark said he grew up in a violent and abusive household in Denver, Colorado.
"Watching my mom get beaten and raped, and just a lot of extreme violence and abuse on every single level," Stark said.
Stark then says he moved from place to place, bullied and abused, and was even homeless at one point.
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"I was told I would never matter, and that I would never amount to anything. And when you're told you're worthless enough, you're going to believe it," stark said.
He later asked a counselor for help, but she told him she couldn't help him.
Stark shared how he became so depressed that he started the process of obtaining a gun and using it to carry out a shooting at his high school in Denver.
"If school was in session I was going to go to school if the school was out I was going to go to the mall," Stark said.
Then, help came in the form of a friend who showed him genuine kindness.
"He brought me in and sat me down, I had a meal, had a shower and stayed with him the whole weekend and I never ended up going to get the gun, ended up spending the weekend with someone who loved me. just simple acts of kindness saved my life," said Stark holding back tears.
"Just Another Tuesday," premiered Friday night at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park.
"Whenever people are suffering, they need that kindness, that need, that hope," said Santana.
"We want to help one kid see that they matter, and they don't have to cause more damage. That they're not alone," explained Stark.
