The Shooting at Chardon High School

There was a school shooting in Chardon, Ohio. I live about an hour away from Chardon. I’ve never been to Chardon schools or shopped in Chardon stores. I’ve driven through Chardon on my way to other places, but I’ve never stopped. Before today, it was just another city. I knew people from it and I knew it was notorious for getting pounded with snow, but it wasn’t a place I cared about one way or the other. This evening, things are different. I’m suddenly filled with questions about the schools and the students and the city and the parents. I’m wondering about friendships and rumors of lost loves, but most importantly, I’m thinking about the tragic events that happened today, Monday, February 27, 2012 in a high school that is not so far from the high school where I work.

No matter what facts emerge, no one wins. Everyone involved in the situation has lost something. Even people not directly involved have suddenly been confronted with the truth that no matter how old you are, your life can change in an instant. Sometimes it’s not about being in the wrong place at the wrong time, sometimes it’s about being where you’re supposed to be at the wrong time. There is at least one teenager who died today and one teenager who is responsible. There are people hurting on every side.

Like many people, I find myself asking, “why.” It’s natural to want to know why someone would do something so horrible, but I’m tired of hearing people ask if there was something that could have been done to prevent this tragedy. Hindsight is always 20/20. We can look back now and clearly see the warning signs, but that’s because we know what we’re looking for and we know what happened. Sometimes, you can’t see things that are right in front of you. Sometimes there’s nothing to see. I don’t know if this could have been prevented, but I do know that no amount of second guessing can change what happened. I’m not going to make assumptions about the shooter’s motives or the lives of the victims. I’m going to keep my mouth shut until I learn more about the situation.

At this point, the focus should be on dealing with what happened, making adjustments to try to prevent future tragedies and accepting the fact that it’s too late to fix whatever went wrong, but it’s not too late to talk about it.

Status: Feeling sorry for everyone involved, from the witnesses, to the families, to the friends, to the victims and even the shooter.