To both families, please accept my heartfelt, sincere sympathy and continued prayers. There were two lives lost that day, two families were left to grieve and countless others were left to survive what we witnessed that day. I can not imagine what it is like to lose a child, father or husband. I do understand what it is like to lose a student, a mentor and myself. Healing from trauma is a personal journey guided by many factors including a survivor’s involvement level within the trauma, past experiences, personal life history, personality, relationships, spiritual journey and support systems. For some it may be a blip in their life, for others it may be a huge life altering event that affects many aspects of their life.I was in the building that day and while I tried to continue to teach I have been unable to do so. Personally the aftermath of the shooting was like sitting at the epicenter of an earthquake; all that was around me was destroyed. I consciously chose to survive each moment the first year and continued working on healing after that. True healing began to occur when I recognized that I could no longer be the person I had been before the shooting and allowed myself to discover who I was becoming as a survivor. The past five years have been incredibly painful, while PTSD no longer rules my life I still react to triggers, including balloons popping, fireworks and environments that remind me of that day. There is no glory in murder/suicide; it should never be an option. Yet if pushed far enough we are all capable of it, we can all reach a place beyond clarity and reason where there is no logic, no stopping. I will never understand the reasons why Jimmy did what he did; perhaps any motives are locked in the police reports, more than likely he took what he was thinking with him when he died. I truly believe the key to stemming future incidents is to learn from the past, to acknowledge what we missed and attempt to understand the dynamics that created the conditions that led to his actions. Only by learning from our history can we change the future. However the timing of this article was in poor taste and the author did not adequately research or present the facts as to why the report is not public. Most disheartening to me, you made inappropriate generalizations about my student, Jimmy Sheets. The remarks you made were inflammatory and slanderous and unless you have obtained direct contact psychological evidence, please refrain from drawing any conclusions about the character or mindset of a child that I knew, love and continue to grieve. Red Lion Area School District has done the best it could with what it had in a very difficult situation, they were prepared for a disaster, supported the survivors and community and continue to strive to provide excellent education for their students. We can honor Dr. Segro’s memory and the lessons he taught us by treating both families and the survivors with compassion, empathy and understanding. The legacy we are left with is to choose to make a positive impact on the world with each moment we are alive.
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