GREENWOOD — Monday night, just 24 hours after two shootings in Central Indiana, a church that sits between Beech Grove and Greenwood opened its doors.
The lead pastor at Resurrection Lutheran Church, Ryan Bailey, put together a vigil to let the community know that they will get through this together.
"These are dark times for our community," Bailey said.
Dark times met with hope at the church.
"There's an element of shock of course. But also, very sadly, an element of not being shocked because these shootings are happening with such regularity across the country. In any sort of setting as you can imagine that it seems like it's only a matter of time before it comes to a place that is close to you," Bailey said.
Bailey said he felt a calling to bring the community together, after the two shootings that happened on Sunday evening.
"It just seemed like there wasn't any space being provided at least that we were aware of that was giving people the opportunity to come together and express their grief," Bailey said.
Paige Dougherty, 17, is one of more than two dozen people who came together to sing and pray Monday night. She said she was working at Barnes and Noble inside the Greenwood Park Mall when the shooting happened.
"I'm a little scared to go back," Dougherty said.
Still, on edge after the shooting, she said it’s difficult to process regular acts of violence in her community.
“It stresses me out a little bit seeing all of this, especially with the school shootings. You hear like chip bags popping open in the cafeteria, and everyone just kind of goes silent for a second thinking it could be gunshots. And it goes back to normal. Big crowds kind of scares me now,” Dougherty said.
"Any of the parents may have been at that mall doing back-to-school shopping last night. To have it hit so close it's a bit of a wake-up call that there isn't anywhere that is immune to this type of violence. We have things that are going on in our society that affects every corner of our country," Bailey said.
-
Judge denies motion to throw out key evidence in Delphi Murders case
On Tuesday, Special Judge Frances Gull ruled to deny a motion to throw out key evidence in the Delphi Murders case.City to roll out new online anonymous reporting line for employees
Indianapolis will soon have a new way for city employees to report sexual harassment or other forms of abuse.New tax district addressing affordable housing issue in Martindale-Brightwood
On Monday night, City-County Council approved expanding the Martindale-Brightwood Housing Redevelopment Area to include Reagan Park and create a housing tax-increment financing district there.The Villages of Indiana expands the number of infants they can care for
Access to childcare continues to be an issue across the country and here in Indiana. The Villages is working to bridge that gap.