What didn't happen:
Aftermath of a shooting
ONE THING to remember about the shooting in Prairie Grove
on Thursday is what didn't happen.
A 12-year-old seventh grader was intercepted while
on his way back to his school, where he had been involved in some sort
of run-in earlier in the week. He was carrying a shotgun--and apparently
turned it on Greg Lovett, a Prairie Grove policeman who also works as a
resource officer in the schools. Both the boy and Sergeant Lovett were
wounded in an exchange of fire about a mile from the school. Both were
taken to hospitals from there.
What didn't happen was a violent encounter inside
the Prairie Grove schools. That's cause for relief--and gratitude. The
painful images from school shootings all over the country in recent years
are impossible to forget. Parents, their kids, teachers, administrators,
and all of us have good reason to be concerned about safety in our schools.
And good reason to be grateful when another mass killing does not
happen.
We would not want to minimize what happened at Prairie
Grove--a small, close-knit community. Bad things still can happen. Anywhere.
We've learned that much by now. Sergeant Lovett was wounded by shotgun
pellets and was treated and released. The boy was shot in the abdomen and
remains in the hospital. Both will deal with the trauma indefinitely, as
will the community. Something like this, even if it didn't develop into
something much more serious, is a shock. And it will take time to absorb
that shock.
There will be endless variations on the question,
why? But as always many of the answers are hidden away, and maybe beyond
reach--for now anyway.
But the fear of what might have happened should
not overwhelm the realities of what did. And what did not. Two people were
hurt. But the violence ended there.
After the shooting, a wounded Sgt. Lovett gave first aid to the boy.
That, too, is something to keep in mind. Without his shotgun, the boy
was just an injured kid in need of help. In the best tradition of law enforcement,
and of humanity, Greg Lovett provided that help.
The boy will be needing lots more help. His actions
hurt himself the worst. That should be remembered, too, as he begins his
long, long journey through the justice system. We all will stay concerned.
And grateful that it wasn't worse. And watchful.