A photo I took in the Columbia Mall Parking Garage in 2007
I woke up yesterday later than I wanted to, and checked facebook on my ipod. I instantly saw a whole bunch of posts about the Columbia Mall shooting.
The Columbia Mall is where I grew up going, it was 10 minutes from my house.
Here is part of what the Howard County Police Department Facebook Page said:
“Howard County police have confirmed the identity of the man who shot and killed two employees before taking his own life in an incident yesterday at the Columbia Mall.”
This wasn’t just some news story, this happened in my hometown, it feels much more real than other violent news stories, even though I didn’t know anyone involved.
I send my condolences and prayers to everyone involved in this horrible incident. I am thankful for the Howard County Police Department’s quick response and for keeping the public in the loop using social media.
I’ve seen some of the most ignorant things said online about this incident, and that’s frustrating and not even worth repeating.
A big question that has gone through my mind is what are you suppose to do if there is an active shooter in a public place? If you had that question too, the DHS has published a pdf pamphlet to give some instructions in case of that kind of emergency.
Smile, reach out and love those that are hurting. You never know whose life you might save.
by Jim Baker
Jim, I like that you have been giving links on what to do in an emergency situation. It’s not something that a lot of people think about before it actually happens.
Maybe this is off topic for your discussion point, man but I’m tired of watching the media hype up and glorify the shooters of these incidents. They drown them with attention and future gunman (because they are there and waiting) know that and want and crave that attention so they demonstrate that need by taking the lives of others. I genuinely feel both as a soldier in the Army and a citizen that our families and the people of this country deserve better and deserve that safety that others gave there lives for. Moving forward we need to focus on the families and people involved instead of the creator of havoc. Yes, we need to also find out why these people carry out such extreme actions to innocent people but the need for this type of action to be blown into gunner attention if only fueling he fire for future gunman. Rant over.
thanks for your comment ben. news in general is pretty sensational. do you think this particular guy did it for the “glory” though? I mean he took his own life. I don’t know… nonetheless that’s sad if that’s the case. The only thing I can think that I can do is just be conscious of those that God put in my path and try to be deliberate and sensitive to them.
Jim, I like that you have been giving links on what to do in an emergency situation. It’s not something that a lot of people think about before it actually happens.
I appreciated the post of the DHS pamphlet. Working at a school that receives a lot of VA students, and living in an area that is generally economically depressed, has me paying constant attention to the psychological well-being of students. Learning to identify the signs that precipitate this kind of behavior is just as essential as knowing how to cope with it after the fact. Fortunately I work with an array of widely experienced professionals (not the least of whom are area pastors) who are quite good at working with people who seem to exhibit psychological distress.