It was an unusual day for me, Luke just happened to take off work that day because we went to a surprise party the night before. I decided to take the opportunity to finish our Christmas shopping for Saturday Nash free. I left sometime between 10-11am, I don't recall exactly, I called my Mom to get a few gift ideas for her and my Dad, and I overheard someone on the radio say there had been a shooting at Oracle and Ina. As I made my way down Oracle, closer to Ina, traffic became at a stand still and an ambulance passed me, I did a U turn and decided to go to a different mall, in the mean time I said to my Mom, there had been a shooting and I was sitting in traffic. Luke kept calling me, I finally called him back and found out that Gabrielle Giffords had been shot.
He then text me again later and said she was dead. I finished my shopping and was gone most of the day, listening to everything unfold over the radio and not really believing what I was hearing.
This was a shopping center that I drive by every day and have even been inside of. This is nice area, a low crime area, never would I ever think something like this could happen here in Tucson so close to my home.
When I got home, I was glued to the TV all night and all the next day. Learning of the stories of those who died and the heroes who helped to save others and take down the gun man.
The Tragedy in Tucson, is what every news channel was calling it. It already had a so-called name. Perhaps the only good news to come out of this was that Gabrielle Giffords was alive and responding to commands from her doctors after being shot in the head.
Of course everyone was asking if Luke was working or at the scene, and even one person said thank goodness he was off that day. But it had nothing to do with police officers, and it didn't even happen in city limits, so it was taken care of by county officers. And this wasn't about Luke, and it wasn't about Police officers, it was about a well respected woman in this city and state who was always trying to help others and look what happened. Pretty much makes you feel like you can't be safe anywhere now.
Even though most of the US has moved on to bigger news like the big snow storm or the NFL playoffs, if you are here in Tucson, you are reminded of it constantly, whether it be listening to the local radio stations, local news or even just driving around town, seeing all the vigils, the media from all over are here covering the story. It is a sad, sad week, month, however long it takes for this city to recover.
It's very surreal to see Brian Williams from NBC standing 100 yards away from the scene of the crime watching him do the NBC evening news with the beautiful AZ sunset in the background and scenery that we see everyday here. And listen to him talk about the victims and the suspect and their stories and keep telling yourself, this actually happened in my own back yard.
As of today, the latest news on Gabrielle Giffords was good, no change and she was responding and alert, that to me is amazing, and I hope she continues to recover as well as the other victims that are still in the hospital.
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