(no subject)
There was a shooting in my city today and I need to talk about it.
(Trigger warning: gun violence)
So I had work today from 8am to 7pm. My last break was just a little bit before 6pm and I was craving some chocolate so I went to the break room. Across the room there was a "special report" on the TV, which I thought was odd because the TV is tuned into sports almost all day long (unless this group of girls changes it to soap operas during their lunch break, but still). I didn't pay much attention to it though. My break was short and I didn't really expect it to be something relevant to me, personally, so I just got my snack and went back to the phones.
When I got off work I turned my cellphone on and was immediatley bombarded with 3 text messages and a facebook alert from people asking if I was ok. I'm immediately like WTF and, after quickly responding with "yeah, i'm ok, wtf" to my worried friends looked up local news.
Welp.
"An unidentified gunman, acting alone, fired up to 60 shots before killing himself. The original reports of two dead were confirmed as the only fatalities. One 15-year-old Portland girl was taken by ambulance to OHSU Hospital, where she was in serious condition Tuesday night."
I'd also like to point out...
"Regular bus service was suspended on TriMet's 28, 29, 30, 31, 71, 72, 79, 152, 155 and 156 lines."
The 71 is 'my bus.' I take it to go grocery shopping, to get to and from work, to go to the doctor and the dentist and to get to the Max to get downtown. I take it at least 10 times a week. I live at the exact opposite end of the route, but the route is a giant horseshoe, so that's kind of.... well... let me just pull up paint and draw a diagram.
And yeah, ok, now everybody knows where I live sort of, but whatever. This is the same bus that I was bitching about on Black Friday for being late because of the shopping traffic at Clackamas Town Center. You know most of the tweets I make "from the bus"? Probably on this one. And now my bus has a weird service alert about construction that wasn't there before today how mysterious.
And yeah, it's a little strange that I'm obsessing about public transit here, but the reason why is because it brings this terrifying thing so much closer to home. This isn't just my city. it's my part of town. I could have been shopping there, had I not been working. I don't usually hang out in malls, but I have holiday stuff to do, so who knows. I hear about these things happening in other places. There was the theatre shooting in Aurora. There was, of course, Columbine. Seems like it happens every few months that someone goes nuts and decides to take out a bunch of people with guns. I just never thought it'd happen this close to me.
News about this is still coming out. Chances are slim that I know either of the two victims, but until the names are released there's always that chance. I only know a dozen or so people in Portland enough to keep contact with regularly and they are all alright, so who knows..