I Still Think My Neighborhood Is a Safe Place To Live

So last night, when I got into town after being at the play all day (there was a matinee and an evening performance, and even though I do not play Mabel any more, I still help out backstage), I drove up the street I usually do, stopped at the stop sign, looked around, and noticed cameras, and flashing red and blue lights.  What the heck is going on, I wondered.  Why are all these cars every where?  Nobody was directing traffic, or saying that I couldn't continue on my way home, so I continued, and turned up my street.  Cop car at the end of the street, cop car by the grassy area across the street from my house, and one at the head of the trail we take as a short cut to get to church or the grocery store.  I opened my garage, and sat in my car in the drive way for a second contemplating what could have possibly happened to require so much police force.  Drugs?  Yeah, probably drugs.  I pulled into the garage, and went inside.  "Kurtis?"  "Yeah?"  I hear from the basement.  "Why are there three cop cars up our street?"  "I don't know."  He spends too much time in the basement.
I got on facebook because my neighbors would know, and have posted about it by now.  An old high school friend had posted an article stating that a man had been shot in the hotel around the corner from where I live.  Oh.  Well, that explains everything.  I couple of my friends posted that there was a helicopter and swat teams going through the neighborhood searching for the shooter.  I asked Kurtis if he had heard a helicopter or anything, and he said, "No.  I didn't hear anything."  How can the whole entire world be moving around you and you don't even notice?!  Well, I guess I know who is going to survive a zombie apocalypse.  A few of my friends had their home searched by swat teams.  One of them came home to a broken door, and were told they could not go inside until the swat teams had cleared it.
I made Kurtis go through the house and check to make sure the doors were locked, and to check on our kids.  I was just so angry that this would happen in my neighborhood.  You are not allowed to shoot people in my neighborhood!  So I really didn't sleep well last night.  I skipped choir this morning, and church.  Today is a stay in my pajamas day, and I have zero apologies for indulging myself today.  This is a link to the article on ksl.com about the story.  I'm grateful the police found and caught the perpetrator.  A part of me feels sorry for him.  A part of me doesn't.  He made his bed when he decided to do meth.  Now he has to go through the terrible withdrawal and awful jail time.  It's tragic.  The whole story is just tragic.
But things like this happening are rare.  People are up in arms, and want to burn that hotel to the ground.  According to the sex offender registry, there are pedophiles living there on a regular basis.  As far as I can tell, it has become a half-way house of sorts for people like that.  It's frightening.  But I can't live my life in fear, and keep my children locked up inside all day.  I refuse.  Bad things happen everywhere - even here.  But most of the time, things are pretty quiet, and the neighbors can be pretty nosy, so I think we'll be okay.