"Things like this just don't happen in Maryville," Mayor Larry Gulledge said
Within the last few weeks, we have been jolted by heinous crimes involving guns. The first crime in downtown Cleveland, led everyone, especially the PD, to conclude...downtown is not safe. Then, a man recently released from prison went on a shooting rampage and killed members of his extended family, and finally killed himself. So, if you lived in the suburbs, you still concluded to yourself that it was just an urban situation, and cities are inherently not safe.
Then, the national news covered a rampage killing at an Illinois church, [1] so now it becomes less clear. Are we not safe at our churches, too? Cognitive dissonance sets in. And, now in a more rural part of the country, another man goes on a rampage killing family and community members. [2] What do we do?
Links:
[1] http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090308/ap_on_re_us/church_shooting
[2] http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/03/gunman_shoots_9_in_south_alaba.html