We talk about weather emergencies, health emergencies, and for over a year, every virus related topic possible.
I didn’t want to ignore the Boulder shootings last night. Sending sympathy and hugs to any CC members in the area who may be shaken today by what happened.
So many have been fearful of grocery stores for their health and contracting a disease. Now this terrible event in a place where people were simply going for everyday family needs.
My heart hurts.
Thanks abasket. It is indeed a heartbreaking event. We live about 20 miles away, so knew the exact location while watching the news.
Per my Facebook feed, Colorado residents are justifiably reeling in grief (and anger about AR-15 guns being again involved with CO tragedy… but I’ll avoid the gun topic, which could be considered political discussion). We are proud of that very brave Boulder police officer. He arrived first and prevented even more loss of life. He was father of 7, and from all
accounts, he was a wonderful guy. I am sure the other 9 victims were fine people too. What a gut punch after finally getting some optimism with the Covid vaccine ramp-up.
Adding my sympathy, thoughts, and prayers. I am so very sorry.
@Colorado_mom ~ I am just heartbroken for you and all of the victims and their families. I read that Officer Talley had seven children, ages 7 to 20. He is a hero.
I have been very teary last night and today. I haven’t been back to a movie theater since the Aurora murders. I don’t see how I can avoid a grocery store for ten years, but I will certainly be more cautious.
“Could” is not the right verb.
It should go without saying that ToS applies even in the café. Let’s not get the discussion shut down.
That said, my thoughts are with the community, particularly the families of the victims.
Colorado has had more than its share of mass shootings. (Whatever a state’s “share” is.) See here: List of shootings in Colorado - Wikipedia
Here is a list of mass shootings going back to 1982:
DH frequently went to that grocery store while in school at Boulder. He is really shaken. I pointed out to him that when a mass shooting happens at a place we’ve never been, or a type of venue we don’t frequent, it should hit home just as hard. We aren’t safe just because we don’t go to night clubs, Asian massage shops, Walmarts, synagogues, or Las Vegas.
I like to think that living in our state protects us a little, but it’s really just luck. It’s so colossally unfair that innocent people die horrible deaths regularly just for being in a random place at a random time.
The worst part is seeing that my kids have grown up with this as a fact of American life.
A woman was hit and killed by a street racer in my neighborhood last week. Just half an hour earlier and I might have been the one killed. I was at that same corner. It does shake you up more when the crime happens near you.
One of my best friends frequently shops at a store right by King Soopers, and she parks right near it for her regular hikes on nearby trailheads. She was really shaken up, especially since she was accosted by a knife wielding man in Denver just a few months ago. My heart goes out to the families/friends of those who died, the shoppers and staff who witnessed the shootings, the first responders, and all those who were not directly involved but who are traumatized by the events.
I think we all should be traumatized.
But why?
Because we live in paradise and should be happy all the time! If you’re unhappy, then it means there is something wrong with you. It’s the paradise paradox. Colorado has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. Some people just kill themselves but others project their pain outward.
I just hope we can figure out some way to stop all this constant madness.
My friend lives in the neighborhood. Her son lost a classmate (the 20 year old who worked at the store) and her friend’s ex-wife was lost too (so his children lost their mother). I worried about her all yesterday as there was no way to know who happened to be shopping at that time, who was picking up a prescription, who was just in the parking lot.
These types of incidences remind me why we need to teach kids how to best handle such situations now as they could find themselves in one anywhere. It’s sad. Really sad.
Lawrence O’Donnell opened his MSNBC show last night by stating he had been to the supermarket earlier that day, and for the first time, thought about things that had never crossed his mind while shopping before: we always enter and leave from the front of the store----what if I’m at the back and something like Boulder CO happens–how would I get out? Are there other ways out? etc.
Which put my mind to thinking: would I look for stockroom doors, which must lead to loading dock areas behind the store? Same thing with the area behind the deli or meat dept?
Things that one never had to worry about before.
The problem is that each situation is different. We know someone who was there and got out safely. Their workplace (not a school) has regular active shooter drills. They said other than knowing there was a shooter, their workplace preparedness was useless. A school is different from an office which is different from a store which is different from an open field (Las Vegas) you just can’t prepare for every contingency. It’s tragic.
When I teach it at school I go over a ton of variances with the kids - fast food, workplace, stores/malls, street - anything that comes up. It helps that I was taught a lot eons ago in my military days. I tell them their odds are small, but definitely not non-existent and things tend to go better when “stuff” isn’t new to the brain.
I agree that most preparation is sub-par, including if I were to limit myself to teaching what I learned via school. I’ve had several different kids tell me something to the effect of, “Mrs X, if we did have a school shooter here I hope I’m in your class because I’d feel a lot safer.” I don’t know whether to feel good because the students have learned something they didn’t know or whether to feel bad because I know it’s not uniform. I feel both.
Then too, not all teachers have the same mentality. Mine is wanting all kids to survive and only going to last resort if we have to. Another I know (and don’t agree with) believes you should always run - even if the shooter is right next to you in the hallway - “because he’ll only get one or two at most.”
Escape if you safely can.
Hide if you can’t.
Know techniques for effectively taking a shooter down if you have no other options.
As @MADad said, part of this is being aware of your surroundings. It’s something we haven’t really needed before, but could save a life someday.
I learned it in my AF days - where it was a sensible part of the education “if your base/position is overrun.” I never thought then that I’d be teaching it to high school students as “another life lesson.” It’s sad.
Maybe I’m the anxious type but I look for the exits in places all the time. Earthquakes, fires, whatever. I look for the exits in hotels, where the stairways are etc.