It’s been over a week now since an 18 year old man shot up Trolley Square, killed and wounded nine people and then lost his own life in a hail of bullets.
And once again a common tragedy has brought together a community and a state.
Of course the mess that took place in Salt Lake last Monday night will be debated and argued about for a long time. Should malls have more and better armed security? Some will, once again claim that guns need to be regulated. Meanwhile some gun rights advocates will say had a lot of people been armed that night he would have either been stopped after only a couple of shootings or he might not have done it at all because he knew that he would have been able to make much of a mark. Some will want to explore the psyche of this kid and see what other kids fit the mold, to determine who might be the next shooter. There will be debates on all fronts.
Right now there are people who lost people they love, others have probably lost their physical health for life and hundreds who were there are facing a lifetime of vivid, grotesque memories.
What we need to concentrate on is the healing from this and the fact that a hero, Kenneth Hammond, an Ogden police officer, more than likely kept many more people from death and injury.
People talk about closure in things, but in reality it seldom comes for people who were in the middle of it or lost people they love. It is easy for those not involved in a tragedy to say “time will cure all.”
While never seeing or being involved in an event such as occurred in Trolley Square, from my personal experience of tragedy, it never goes away. It sometimes fades for awhile, but it will also come back in haunting ways, when you least suspect it.
Despite our differences of opinion or policy, what we need to do is all love each other, as Utahns, as Americans.
[dfads params='groups=4969&limit=1&orderby=random']
[dfads params='groups=1745&limit=1&orderby=random']