EVERGREEN, Colo. (KDVR) — Residents in the small community of Evergreen remain in shock after a deadly shooting at Evergreen High School on Wednesday.
Many gathered at familiar places along the town’s main street to show each other support.
“Some people might say there’s not a safe place to live in America,” Kevin Shepard told FOX31.
Shepard, a former Western Slope school teacher, tells FOX31 that students deserve a chance to learn in a safe environment.
“You feel like living in a small mountain town outside of Denver, the city here that, like you kind of can avoid violence and things like that, but it’s really we have such a crisis of mental health among our young people,” Shepard said.
Many are shocked by the realization that a school shooting could happen in their small, peaceful mountain town.
“Look outside your window, you’ve got deer, you’ve got elk, you’ve got this beautiful land surrounding you and then something like this happens,” said Townsend Carr.
Parents, students and other community members say the priority must be finding ways to prevent tragedy by identifying signs that a student is struggling.
“Right now we’re thinking about protecting our kids,” said Carr.
Others say they are saddened by the violence that has become a reality for many students across the country.
“Homeschooling is the way to go now, so it really is; it hurts to see that in public schools,” said one visitor.
As the community takes steps to heal, all are seeking answers as to why school shootings happen and searching for ways to prevent them.
“We are the only country that has this much violence and death surrounded, you know, around our schools and our kids and our communities and our churches and our nightclubs and our malls, I mean, just pick one,” said Carr.
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
