Tragedy in a small town

The "town" where I live isn't really a town at all. There isn't even a zip code. But there is a gas station, my beloved mocha stand, a tavern, a church, a little store, a fire department, and a handful of mom & pop businesses.

While we don't know everyone's names, a la Mayberry, we do know each other...by vehicle, by dog, by "She walks every morning at 8, no matter the weather" or "He's in front of me every morning at the mocha stand."

Well, we're all doing our little mental inventory of the people with know & live near tonight. It turns out there was a shooting in our little town.
http://www.komonews.com/news/27789174.html
At last report, six people are dead, two are wounded and there are 7 crime scenes. Thankfully, the shooter is in custody already. He turned himself in.

Some of the shootings happened at the gas station where we get gas, buy mocha's, & stop when I've forgotten to buy milk or "need" ice cream.

We're sitting now, hoping that the people we know are safe. We sit and send thoughts out to the deputy who was killed. I am waiting anxiously to hear his name. Was it one of the deputies that help save my brother's life when we exploded? Was it one of the deputies that checked in with us the next morning? Was it the funny deputy that came when I rolled my truck?

Were the other victims acquaintances? did we know them from church? Is it the old guy that always has coffee at the Shell station & flirts with the women as they walk by? One of the dead drives a silver car...we're scrolling through our memory banks: does anyone we know drive a silver car?

They have a picture of the shooter. I don't recognize him but the expression on his face is one of a broken human. He has a record of mental illness. He's one of the lost souls. His truck looks familiar. Have I seen him at the mocha stand? It's quite likely.

So, it's with a worried and heavy heart that we wait for the news to announce the dead and the injured. Tomorrow we'll know. Tomorrow we'll go to the mocha stand to check on our friends that feed the dog handfuls of treats every weekend & remembers our names. I'll have to buy flowers to leave at the gas station tomorrow afternoon. Probably go to church on Sunday, for the first time in years; seems like it's time.

Send a shout out to whomever/whatever you believe in. Someone lost a loved one today.