Watching news unfold about the horrific shooting in Colorado at the Batman movie premiere… apparently a guy dressed all in black burst into the midnight showing and started shooting. Absolutely horrible.
My heart goes out to the victims and their families and loved ones. A senseless act of violence can devastate a community and change people’s lives forever. I lived in Denver in 1999 when the Columbine shootings happened and I now live in Tucson about two miles from the scene where Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and those other poor people were shot, so I’ve been touched by tragedy, although not directly. Still, my thoughts are with the Denver community, which I was fond of when I lived there. May they find the strength to get through this tragedy and may they find answers to why the shootings occurred.
I’m very glad I was too hungover to go to the premiere last night. I woke up this morning, flipping through my FB feed on my phone and was like, “What the hell?!”
I had shifted my plans to tonight but now I don’t even want to go. It’s also the theatre that my students and friends may go to, so I’m a bit on pins and needles this morning. Teachers like me are still on summer break. (Why do I have to be friends with such geeks?) Also, if I remember correctly, the movie was showing at that theatre in more than one at slightly different start times to accommodate crowds, so the odds that anyone here knows anyone hurt is still so low.
This is awful on so many levels. Due to agoraphobia I get anxious in theaters and specifically worry about random shootings. So far I’ve been calming myself by saying, “What a silly fear. That’s never happened!” Guess I can’t do that anymore.