We are traumatized.

FROM THE EDITOR

wondering if they were indeed OK.

inside.

Tweet after tweet, parents said they heard from their child but still had no clear answers of what was happening.

ing outside of our schools, public arenas ands elsewhere.

As the minutes continued, the Littleton Police Department would tweet that “still no injuries” had been found. While good news, it was still stressful because it wasn’t the “all clear” tweet parents and students were waiting for.

A threat or call about a shooting is never discounted anymore. All calls, all threats are treated as if they are real.

For those responsible, there is no excuse for the level of cruelty you imposed on teachers, students, parents, law enforcement and your communities.

Th e circular bar was busy but not too busy. There were two bartenders working the bar. Our view was of the beautiful snow-covered mountains as the restaurant was at the top of a ski resort. As the bartenders chatted us all up, we all took in the amazing view of the slopes, the mountain range backdrop and a gorgeous blue-sky day.

No rush, service was casual without being too slow. As we enjoyed our break we noticed a man had walked in and stood at the bar looking for a beverage himself. His accent gave him away as being from New York and his body language betrayed his not so good mood. As the bartender approached the man and asked what he would like to drink, the man blurted out, “Two bloody Marys.”

As the bartender started making the drinks, the man started assertively tapping his credit card on the counter, shaking his head and clearly losing his patience as the bartender worked on his drinks. I would have to say, the bartender makes an awesome bloody Mary, and he takes the time to make sure

The thing is, while other schools were cleared and quickly, Littleton felt like it took forever. This is not judgement to Littleton schools or police, it just felt like forever for myself and a reporter waiting for word.

I started scanning Twitter where the trauma we are experiencing as a society became very apparent. From students tweeting that they were still inside a classroom hunkered down without any knowledge of what is happening on the outside.

From parents saying they have elementary school children without a cell phone, and they were worried because they had no way of knowing what was happening

For students, this wasn’t just a drill to go through what to do if this actually happened. While found to be a hoax, for our communities, this was essentially the real thing until police ruled it wasn’t.

Earlier in the week, my own children went through a lockdown drill with their school. Afterwards, my 6-year-old asked some pointed questions on why they did it. I was honest with him. In reality, we just do not live in a world right now where we can lie to our children about the evil that can be linger-

While thankfully, no one was hurt, in the end, this day shows us that something has to be done to get the increasing numbers of mass shootings under control. We are past the time of bickering about which political party is right and which is wrong.

We are a traumatized society that deserves debate, compromise and true action that leads to healing and safety.

Thelma Grimes is the south metro editor for Colorado Community Media.