This season, families in Colorado Springs are definitely counting their blessings. The cheer of the holidays has been tainted with bloodshed, this time with a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs housing the tragedy.
On Friday, November 27th, Ozy Licano watched from the parking lot as Robert Dear crouched at the entrance and began shooting at the Planned Parenthood entryway. Rather than getting out of his car and running, Licano put his car in reverse and drove away. As Dear shot at the Planned Parenthood, he heard Licano attempting to drive away and turned. Licano states that the two made eye contact, and after averting his eyes quickly, he felt a shower of bullets fall upon his windshield. Luckily, Licano was able to make it to a nearby grocery store where he could tend the wounds caused by the shattered glass.
Blessing Number One: Ozy Licano survived the first flurry of Dear’s bullets.
Though Licano was able to make a quick escape to safety, it was not the case for other witnesses and victims inside the Planned Parenthood. Shop owners watched from outside as Dear continued to shoot. As Dear’s bullets pierced the air, witnesses watched SWAT teams swarm the clinic. Jill Lavelle, a nearby shop owner, looked on as one of the police officers surrounding the clinic fell to Dear’s gunshots.
Blessing Number Two: That Police Officers and SWAT teams arrived at the scene quickly, and that nearby shop owners were able to lock their doors and draw their blinds safely.
Dear now made his way inside the clinic, leaving police officers with yet another problem: how to stop Dear’s shooting spree and evacuate the 30 people now trapped in the Planned Parenthood. Thus, a standoff arose, one that would last for a grueling five hours.
Blessing Number Three: That the people inside were able to assure loved ones that they were okay through their cell phones.
According to the New York Times, Dear was “focused on the medical clinic but indiscriminate with his targets”. The shooting caused a lockdown of the entire block, trapping over 300 civilians inside nearby stores as Dear continued his rampage.
Blessing Number Four: That rescued civilians were greeted with open arms from the rest of the community. Nearby churches and homes stood ready to accept those that needed help.
Finally, at 4:52pm, the civilians of Colorado Springs were able to breath a sigh of relief as Dear surrendered and police took him into custody.
Blessing Number Five: The vigilance of the Colorado Springs Police.
Overall, three people were killed, including University Police Officer Garrett Swasey, and nine people were injured, including five police officers. News of the event swept across the nation.
Blessing Number Six: That the rest of the nation is able to learn of this horrific event, and that we are not left in the dark.
Though an official motive has not been released for Dear’s attack on the Planned Parenthood, it is not hard to guess. What is so tragic about this event is not just that Dear shamelessly stole three innocent lives that afternoon, but that Dear is contributing to the ever-growing number of attacks on the American Public.
There is a lot we could be thankful for from this tragic event, including the fact that those hospitalized are in a stable condition, and that those who gave their lives Friday will be remembered for their heroic actions. Yet with each aspect of the event that we can give thanks to, there is a tenfold increase of hurt and pain we must now confront. The blessings listed attempt to remain positive about a horrific shooting, where positivity is nearly impossible to come by. But these blessings are not meant to downplay the horrific effects of this violence. These blessings are meant to illuminate the remembrance we owe to those that were lost.
America’s narrative is turning red: red from the blood shed by innocent civilians and red from the hatred fueling these crimes. Since the 1990s, we have witnessed hundreds of thousands of deaths caused by firearms. Our generation is becoming numb to killing. And as the death toll rises, we can no longer afford to remain silent.
Our biggest blessing is that we are informed, better than ever, about these crimes. With all this information at our fingertips, we have no excuse to remain ignorant and blind.
Obama, in a statement from Saturday, said, “The last thing Americans should have to do, over the holidays or any day, is comfort the families of people killed by gun violence—people who woke up in the morning and bid their loved ones goodbye with no idea it would for the last time. And yet, two days after Thanksgiving, that's what we are forced to do again."
Obama ended his speech on Saturday with a cry to action, saying, “This is not normal. We can’t let it become normal…Enough is enough”.
Regardless of how you feel about gun control, we are all victims of gun violence. As young Americans, we cannot stand by and continue to watch. Every violent crime that happens while we stand by and click past the breaking news notifications on our news feeds defines our generation.
So next time another violent news story flashes across your Facebook news banner, or interrupts your late night Netflix, think about how this might affect the narrative of our country. And if we are not happy with how our history is being written, then it is up to us to change how we respond.
