It is very hard to get one’s head around the mass shooting at the southwest side Indianapolis FedEx distribution center that claimed the lives of 8 people, 9 if you include the apparent self-inflicted wounds of the alleged shooter.  Every family touched by this should be at the top of our concerns.  Imagine seeing your loved one leave for work on what appeared to be a routine day and not returning.

Many have centered on how to prevent these sorts of tragedies from ever happening again.  There is plenty to say on that topic, but  I will not dwell on that.  I will explore another aspect of this.

I understand that many police officers and other first responders at the scene of this shooting are having a difficult time handling this.  The descriptions of just how gruesome this scene appeared are awful.  We sometimes forget that people first on the scene see the worst of it and I hope they all receive the help needed.

I watched a CNN reporter recount on Sunday morning that he had been covering the protests in Minnesota over police shootings when he was sent to Indianapolis and covered the mass shooting here.  He has since returned to Minnesota and was asked how he is handling these stories.  He hesitated for a moment and honestly said it has been hard on him and other journalists.  Police have been throwing journalists to the ground and manhandling them in Minnesota as they try their best to cover a situation where the police and protestors look on reporters with suspicion.

I have been following the social media accounts of some local journalists and the enormity of this loss  of life at FedEx is beginning to weigh heavily on them.  I sincerely hope each of them gets the help needed to continue on.

The Indianapolis mass shooting has the obvious victims of these dead and their loved ones.  But there are many stories of collateral damage done to others.  I feel for every single person impacted by this horrible event.  There is not much more I can express at this time.