After reading Jane Wells’ thoughts on The LoJo about one of her former students committing a violent crime in Russellville and then being shot to death himself Tuesday (http://www.theloganjournal.com/Stories.aspx?Article=guests373), Rhonda Barton has written about a double shooting in Franklin last week in which a deputy sheriff was seriously injured. Rhonda Barton is administrative assistant in Workforce Development for Southcentral Kentucky Community & Technical College (SKYCTC), headquartered at the Franklin Center. This is her story:
So very well said, Mrs. Wells. I can understand completely! I too, am suffering from a different point of view today. I live in Franklin, not so far from Russellville. It is another town rocked by recent events involving gunmen and police.
This time, an officer was shot. While I weep for his pain and injury, I am also best friends of the mother whose son was the shooter. I watched as she and her family fell apart when the news was heard. I heard the anguished cries of a grandfather who became a broken man before my eyes. Such a sound and sight I shall not soon forget.
I should also mention that I have a brother-in-law on the Franklin Police force. I know what it's like to have your loved one put on that badge and face an ever increasingly violent world. You wonder every day, "Will he be home tonight? Uninjured, safe and well?" Not that I would like to see any officer injured, fortunately, this time, my brother was not the one.
This young man (28) has spent many, many nights under my roof and at my table. True, we all knew he needed mental health treatment, his troubles were visible for quite some time. His mother struggled for many years with our broken mental health system trying to get him the help he needed. Every avenue was a dead end, and believe me, I watched her try everything!
He was in and out of the jail for minor offenses that didn't warrant mental evaluations. She enrolled him in a military summer school and also a private Christian school; and then sent him to rehabs and counselors. No one ever suggested committing him.
Meanwhile, as an adult, he continued to spiral ever downward. Finally, when he physically attacked her for the first time a month ago, in desperation, she did the only thing left she knew she could do...call the police. He immediately went on the run - hiding in the woods, storage/out buildings, anywhere he could. We spent days worried about his whereabouts.
During this time, she and I warned the police that he was a potential danger to himself and others. We begged them to apprehend him and get him evaluated because we hoped and prayed that he would finally receive the treatment that he so desperately needed.
The police can only do so much I know, but I don't feel we were taken seriously until he actually shot an officer.
For sure, I feel compassion for the officer (and his family - blood or blue) who was only doing his job. I also feel for the man who shot him. He was injured during the conflict too, although not as severely as the officer. I truly feel a confliction of emotions. I'm hurt, sad, confused and angry all at once.
However, I remind myself that I can only feel a minute portion of what his family is feeling. Their pain will not end soon. There will be a trial. Already there is public ridicule. Averted eyes. Eager reporters. Gossip. Their future is sealed through no fault of their own, by an action that only took minutes--no seconds—t o commit. This young man also has a very young son, one whose future now will forever be tarnished by the actions of his father. So many lives affected in this tragedy.
I will continue to wonder if there was something I could have done/could have said, to change things. Could I have prayed harder, done more research, or even just hugged him more?
So I sympathize with you, Mrs. Wells. Our lives are forever changed now, too.