Trolley Square Shooting

February 13, 2007

Last night’s shooting massacre at Trolley Square really shook up the family. From what we know right now, an 18-year-old with a mullet and a shotgun entered the mall and started shooting people at random, killing five and wounding at least a dozen more before he was killed by police.

It’s only a few blocks from our house and the kids got too much of a dose of the breaking news via local radio, which was reporting that a second gunman was on the loose and probably in our neighborhood. The boys were terrified and slept on the floor in our room, “away from any windows that he might shoot through,” as my 8-year-old insisted.

To calm the kids down so they could possibly sleep, I actually had to read them the words of Salt Lake City Police spokeswoman Robin Snyder, which I pulled off a local TV station’s website: “We have one gunman, and he is dead. He is no longer a threat.” I never could have imagined such a bedtime story for my children.

This morning, the boys are off to school, and so is Laura. It felt just like a normal morning, feeding them breakfast and making lunches, forcing them to brush their teeth. Once they’re gone I dig into the news, and am left with more details that I can’t really share with the kids. Like the three people shot down in the trading card shop where the boys buy Pokemon cards. The same shop where we have occasionally left them on their own for a couple of hours to play in Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments.

And to think, to make them feel better I almost told them about the time we rode the exact train in Madrid that Al-Qaeda blew up exactly 24 hours later killing 300 people.

Now I’m off to work, straight to Trolley Square to photograph. But I won’t tell them that. Not unless they ask.

Posted by Trent Nelson | Filed Under Trent 

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Comments

One Comment to “Trolley Square Shooting”

  1. ash on February 13th, 2007 8:04 pm

    It reminds me when I was little and my parents - both journalists - would tell on occasion that I couldnt’ go outside and play after school. That I had to go inside, lock all the doors and watch a movie. I would find out at the dinner table that a child molester or murder suspect was loose and usually thought to be in our neighborhood. Thanks for sharing.

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