Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Too close to home

The latest school shooting, at a private Christian school in Nashville, took place about ten miles from my home. My older son got married at the church that the school is part of. 

I have always felt the sting of these horrid events, but this one? This one has shaken me to my core.

To my knowledge I don't know anyone with a child who goes to the school, nor do I know any faculty or staff members. I know a few folks who go to the church. 

But it's here in the community where I live, in an area I often visit. I just can't believe it. 

The home where the shooter lived is in an older area of town, an area that has become very popular and where home prices have risen like crazy in the last few years. Apparently, the shooter had once attended the school she decided to terrorize.

None of that matters, but it's part of what we have heard from our local newscasters and what has been conveyed by the police chief.  

Within a matter of about 14 minutes from getting the 911 call, our local police responded, engaged with the shooter and took her out. By all accounts, they prevented the loss of more lives. 

But three children and three adults are dead, and we are in a state of shock around here. 

It's way too close to home this time. 



8 comments:

Kelly said...

I have no words, Bob.

JayCee said...

I just find it hard to comprehend that these things are still so commonplace. Being so close to home must be traumatic for the whole community.

Ed said...

I thought about you when I heard the news. Hopefully police forces across the country have learned the hard lesson of Uvalde. The Memphis police seemed to have not paused and as you said saved lives.

I'm on the schoolboard for a private religious institution and we are currently in progress of doing security upgrades. The state was really pushing for better locks on our doors (they do lock) but as we have seen by the released video, locks slowed down this girl a matter of seconds. We are instead focusing on things that work better like security cameras with police access and solid interior doors.

Besides the loss of life, it saddens me that we will spend a couple weeks rehashing the same old assault rifle debate which will go nowhere thanks to our deadlocked congress instead of focusing on more pragmatic solutions which may have stopped this such as allowing doctors and law enforcement to put red flags on a national database with universal background checks. Even those are band aid solutions for what is most definitely a cultural issue on how we have chosen to raise our children.

I hope I am proven wrong on all counts.

Ed said...

I meant Nashville police of course and not Memphis.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Nuch too close to be treated as just another piece of News I am sure.

Debby said...

They showed pictures of those little faces and I cannot help but feel just sick, just sick. One of those pictures reminded me of my Iris.

Becki said...

I don't know why, but this shooting feels different to me somehow and I have no real connection to Nashville. I can only imagine feeling as you do if something like this happened close to home.

Jeff said...

This was terrible. And tonight, your legislature have expelled members who protested. I'm just catching up... a week later.