My first reaction to the massacre at the Aurora, CO movie theater early yesterday morning was, "Not again." One of my sorority sisters worked at Chuck E. Cheese in Aurora in 1993 when another gunman went on a crazed, though systematic, elimination of the employees. (Story here.) Thank God she hadn't been at work that night. Then, of course, there was Columbine in 1999. Though these kinds of incidents aren't localized to only Colorado, it seemed strange to me that Aurora was the site of a second attack of this kind.
Particularly, as others have said, because it seems so random. The Chuck E. Cheese incident was perpetrated by a former employee, Nathan Dunlap. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were students at Columbine High School. Though it's still early in the investigation, there doesn't seem to be any connection between the suspect, James Holmes, and the Century 16 movie theater.
There are many who are trying to figure out why and who to blame. But all I want to do is hug my friends and family and tell them I love them. It's tempting to stay locked up safely at home, but that's not living. (And not necessarily safer.) We'll get through this the same way we've gotten through other hard times: with faith, family and friends. Praying for the victims' families, the suspect and his family, and all the law enforcement for healing and peace.
Photo courtesy of R. Peters Photography, http://www.rebeccapetersblog.com/
