Sorry about being so late, there was a miscommunication and
delay, please excuse the difference in time:
As most people have heard others say, “violence is all
around us.” But you don’t really notice it until the situation comes to light.
This at least holds true for me. In class we talked about school shootings and
preparedness, and above all, gun violence. But you never really know what you’d
do in a situation unless you’re put into it. Last Thursday, as most of you know,
there was a shooting in Romeoville of all places. The incident happened about 5
minutes from my house, at a place with I run past regularly in the warmer
months. At the time it happened all I knew was that there had been a shooting
and the shooter had not been caught. Panicked, and unsure what to do I went
straight home and locked all the doors and closed all the blinds.
Within a few blocks where the shooting was there are 3
schools. Irene King Elementary, A Vito Martinez Middle School, and Romeoville
High School. All schools were put into soft lockdowns with police all around
Irene King because it was the closest (only a block away). I texted my friend
who lives on the street over from Emery to make sure her and her family were
okay, and she told me how the cops were outside the elementary school rushing
the children who were being dropped off by their parents inside. Everyone was
assuming the worst at that time.
Even though I was about a mile away from the scene I was
still freaked out to go outside, with the picture of a creepy guy walking
around outside trying to hide stuck in my head. Nothing like this has ever
happened so close to home before, it was so unexpected. I remembered seeing all
the cop cars speeding that way as I was on my way to my 8 o’clock class that
morning with no idea of what had actually happened until I got out of class. (Emery
is only about 5-10 minutes away from Lewis as well). Later that day I went to
work and to my surprise people hadn’t even heard about it. I was shocked! How
could you not of heard about a shooting in Romeoville! Chicago I would
understand, but not this little village. If you sneeze you’ve missed almost the
whole thing. The shooting was the talk all day.
As the news reported more, I learned it might not of been a
random shooting as originally thought. But that didn’t make me feel any safer.
Knowing that the son of a bitch had been arrested and was in jail was the only
thing that would make me feel better. The fear that was put into everyone close
by, and the loss that family suffered because of that one stupid man is not
something you can tell. It has to be experienced first hand. This incident was
kind of an eye opener; it made me realize that even in the dinky village of
Romeoville, there are still crazy people, outside from the usual crazy people,
like the woman that walks around looking like a Barbie doll, and Lou, the man I
always see in Fountaindale Library who is related to Al Capone.
The sense of fear that I felt for just a short time is felt
by tons of people daily living in unsafe neighborhoods. There are shootings all
the time in some parts of Chicago, and all over the world. Do the shooters feel
no mercy? Gangs thrive on that fear, but why? Anyone can pick up a gun and
shoot someone. Why does that make them feel empowered, and why do they think
they have the right to choose who lives and who dies? That 15-year-old girl
although not shot by a gang, didn’t deserve to die. Most people don’t deserve to
die, but it still happens. No place is totally safe from guns and violence.
How did this man get a gun so easily? Why was he dating a
15-year-old? And I wonder if he had a history of violence that lead to this
vicious act.
Megan Naylor
When I found out there was a shooting, I panicked too. I was at a loss of what to think. The first thing I got from Lewis was an email…. A fricking email. Just about to go to my speech class, I thought "Who is it? Where is the shooter? Could he be here?" Every time I think about school shootings and people dieing, it really gets me every single time. I then begin to wonder a bunch of 'what if?' questions that make me over analyze every aspect of my life.. Anyways, I definitely agree that a man like this shouldn't have been able to get a gun and certain not have been allowed to date a 15 year old. I can't believe a 15 year old would date a man that old. At 15, my biggest priority was playing a sport or hanging out with my girlfriends, not dating an older man that seems threatening. Gun violence has certainly hit new levels of deranged and heart-aching death tolls only add to the insecurity of society as of today.
ReplyDeleteI remember being at Lewis when this whole situation occurred. I was sitting in the library only to have a man say to other students and myself that there had been a shooting in Romeoville and the school was safe. I can't say that I was very worried knowing that the school is in good hands with the campus security. However, this did make me more aware of what can happen. I live just about 20 minutes away from Romeoville and I cannot recall anything like this happening near me. Like Megan said you hear about this stuff happening in Chicago and we do not think twice about it. However, it is always different when the issue is near to home. The most important part of this incident is to just be aware of potential risks. We cannot live in fear of someone gunning us down but we need to be aware in order to keep others and ourselves safe.
ReplyDeleteI remember hearing about this, and I believe Lewis was on soft lock down also. It's scary to even think about terrible things, like shootings, happening in our own backyards, but it can happen. I remember when I first started this class in January, I would go to bed nervous every night, because I was becoming more aware of the violence in the world. You could be in the safest neighborhood in the world, and these things still happen, and I don't think there is much we can do to stop it.
ReplyDeleteI had heard about this but I had not looked into it at all. It is pretty scary when stuff like this happens so close to home. In joliet where I live right across from JJC a man robbed a store at gunpoint and fled into my neighborhood jumping fences and sorts. This was a few summers ago, but the man tried to hide the gun behind my neighbors air conditioner. My neighbor noticed it and asked us what it was if it was a toy or something and we told her no its not lets call the police. and yeah that happened, you can never be away from violence you can just be safe i guess.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the fact that people can get ahold of a gun so easily terrifies me. I dont understand how just ANYBODY can get gun. THATS HOW THESE SORT OF THINGS HAPPEN. I remember waking up that morning and being told about the shooting and all i did was freak out. I wasnt even sure if i should go to class. its scary to know that we arent exactly safe anymore
ReplyDeleteThe gun laws that we currently have, I truly believe, are true soft for this country. I, however, also understand that if we are no hard about the laws, then the black market for gun merchandise will thrive, and I don't want that. I this case, I actually feel bad for politicians because they have to come up with the laws that make use safe and protect use from people that locate guns easily, and kill and harm other individuals. I hope one day, we can all find some kind of peace, or at least decrease the amount of violence that happens in this country.
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