This past week, a co-worker from a bar I work at in Baltimore said to me, "I really thought I could live my entire life without knowing a victim of a mass shooting."
That was until his cousin was killed in the Capital Gazette shooting in Annapolis, Maryland on June 28.
She was young. A recent hire. A sales assistant. A fiancé. A beautiful woman.
She was a Baltimore native, just like me.
She was an innocent human being.
It's a small world, and when you hear things like this, it just feels too close to home.
I actually applied to the Capital Gazette and was interviewed by the Baltimore Sun Media Group. During a visit I had to the Baltimore Sun office, I was actually referred by an employee to apply for the position. I didn't get the job.
But what if I was that new hire?
What if one of my fellow journalist friends or classmates were that new hire?
Even so, that new hire happened to be related to a friend. This victim was somebody to many people, and their lives will never be the same without her.
The reality of these tragedies really hits home, especially when it's so close to home.
According to Business Insider, gun violence is the leading cause of death in America. There's a 1 in 11,125 chance of dying in a mass shooting. Simply researching these statistics is terrifying.
Business Insider
Although gun violence is reported as the leading cause of death, it is also reported as one of the most poorly researched. And it's pretty concerning to hear that a leading cause of death in your nation is "poorly researched."
With gun data titled, "Being shot is a common way to die in the US," it's a little disturbing to think about.
For me, it's especially terrifying to think that somewhere I once dreamed of working would become a crime scene.
A newsroom. A place for passionate people to gather and work hard for the public. Their job is designed to provide people with what they deserve to know. And they don't get paid all that much to dedicate their lives to this. Contrary to popular opinion about biases and hatred towards the news—whether you like it or not—it's a necessity in life.
Even though I didn't get a job in that newsroom, I have sat in a newsroom. I have worked in publishing and interned for news outlets. I have worked hard towards reaching the public through reporting and publishing. I have reached out and touched lives within various communities in this simple yet complex kind of way. I too am an innocent human being who wants to reach people that need to connect with something. And that's all the news is here to do. Not all of us are trying to push an agenda. Not all of us are trying to persuade, influence, convince, and brainwash. Many of us are actually trying to do the opposite. We want to find the facts.
How could one piece of shit person have no life to the point of obsessing over hating something so passionately? Life is really that worthless that you have to take other peoples?
Why would you want to take innocent lives of children? Parents? Journalists? Other living and breathing human beings?
How could someone shoot up a school? A concert? A church? A newsroom?
We could ask these questions over and over again, but we will never make sense of them.
It's scary. It's real. It's our new reality.
It just feels way too close to home.
