When ‘It Could Never Possibly Happen Here’ Isn’t an Option
The New York Times
A mass shooting inside a suburban Memphis grocery store was called “the most horrific event that has occurred in Collierville history.” But it was one the town had prepared for.
COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. — A gunman opened fire in a suburban supermarket, and employees and customers immediately sought cover, barricading themselves in freezers and behind pallets of merchandise. Police officers swept in, employing lessons still fresh from training in June. Firefighters followed, shielding themselves in ballistic gear their department bought three years ago in anticipation of a moment like this.
“We wanted to prepare,” Buddy Billings, the fire chief in Collierville, Tenn., told reporters on Friday, a day after one person was killed and 14 others were wounded in the shooting inside of a Kroger store, by a gunman who the authorities say then killed himself.
The aftermath of the shooting about 30 miles outside of Memphis has underscored a grim reality: Gunfire interrupting the rhythms of everyday American life has become far less shocking as the country has confronted recurring bloodshed in schools, workplaces and churches.
