Shit.
A man, Derrick Bird, has gone on a killing spree in Cumbria, killed 12 people and shot 25 others.
I feel ill, shocked and sad. Not only because I've spent a lot of time in that area (frequent holiday destination as a kid) but because my community has a similar make-up - semi-rural, high unemployment, poverty and depression, and a lot of shotgun owners. It has a twin history of economic deprivation, isolation and flat-out bad luck. It's literally, and metaphorically close to home. In my community 12 dead and 25 injured would mean no family was unaffected, it would cause chaos in terms of unprepared emergency services and support staff, as well as the gaps left behind.
My heart goes out to all affected in Cumbria (and further afield) today, I am truly sorry for your losses and the pain and devastation that's occurred. I'm sad that one man felt so angry at the world, for whatever reason, that he took a rifle and a shotgun and killed and wounded people at random, and that he took his own life, so we'll probably never know why. Apparently he was a 'nice, normal bloke', they always are, aren't they?
I try to find a tiny kernel of good, of hope, in even the worst situations, but this is so horrific and tragic that I wish it wasn't real. It's a beautiful day outside, birds are singing and it's half-term so kids are playing outside everywhere, and to think that not so far away from here (would take us about an hour and a half to get there), this beautiful day has turned into something so wrong, is just surreal. We were going to go to the same area in the next couple of weeks, when Lisa has some time off, it seems funny going from one set of green countryside to another, but the scenery up there is beautiful, and I have happy memories of the place. I think we need to rethink that now, it wouldn't seem right.
I feel ill, shocked and sad. Not only because I've spent a lot of time in that area (frequent holiday destination as a kid) but because my community has a similar make-up - semi-rural, high unemployment, poverty and depression, and a lot of shotgun owners. It has a twin history of economic deprivation, isolation and flat-out bad luck. It's literally, and metaphorically close to home. In my community 12 dead and 25 injured would mean no family was unaffected, it would cause chaos in terms of unprepared emergency services and support staff, as well as the gaps left behind.
My heart goes out to all affected in Cumbria (and further afield) today, I am truly sorry for your losses and the pain and devastation that's occurred. I'm sad that one man felt so angry at the world, for whatever reason, that he took a rifle and a shotgun and killed and wounded people at random, and that he took his own life, so we'll probably never know why. Apparently he was a 'nice, normal bloke', they always are, aren't they?
I try to find a tiny kernel of good, of hope, in even the worst situations, but this is so horrific and tragic that I wish it wasn't real. It's a beautiful day outside, birds are singing and it's half-term so kids are playing outside everywhere, and to think that not so far away from here (would take us about an hour and a half to get there), this beautiful day has turned into something so wrong, is just surreal. We were going to go to the same area in the next couple of weeks, when Lisa has some time off, it seems funny going from one set of green countryside to another, but the scenery up there is beautiful, and I have happy memories of the place. I think we need to rethink that now, it wouldn't seem right.