Openly gay Lawrence County man lost six friends in Orlando shooting
It has almost become a “normal” thing to wake up and while drinking your morning coffee and watching the morning news, to hear the weather for the day and hear about another bombing that has happened somewhere in the United States or other countries.
It’s almost that we are literally numb as a country that unless it is close to home, in our town or effects someone we love or know personally, we just walk away and go through the rest of our day without thinking of the horror that some people just like us are going through.
After all, what can we do to change things? How can we stop spineless people from killing innocent people? Before when we waged war, we knew the enemy because they wore a uniform that was different than ours. Now the enemy walks among us, eats at the same restaurants, attends the same functions as us and our children. What did America do to deserve such an outpouring of irrational, blind hatred? America is such a great, open-hearted country that we welcome these very people in, make the American Dream accessible to them, only for them to in return kill and maim our people.
The last and deadliest mass shooting happened in Orlando, Florida. Omar Mateen, 29, walked into a LGBT nightclub named Pulse and killed 49 people and injured 53 with a hand gun and an AR-16 war machine gun. It is called the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. While I know that this isn’t new news to anyone who has turned on the television or radio in the last couple of days, there is news that may bring this somewhat closer to your home than you think.
Living just 3 blocks away from the nightclub where all of the savage killing and maiming took place was a man who was born and raised right here in Lawrence County, a 2006 LCHS graduate named Travis Whitt, who frequented the bar at various times.
He said in an interview with The Lazer last night that he woke up at approximately 3:30 AM with his phone ringing off the hook with calls from several of his friends wondering if he had gone to the club that night.
That was the beginning of a horrific day for this young man and his friends, he said.
As he and his boyfriend stood outside their home, they heard a huge bomb sound, later he found out that it was the bomb set off by police to distract the gunman. A few minutes later he recalled hearing a barrage of gunshots. Later he found out that it had also been when the police finally took the shooter out.
“The next hours were spent making a list of all of my closest friends and one by one marking them off as I found their location and that they were alive,” Whitt said.
Then the time came where they were down to six names that had not been accounted for. Unfortunately those six did not make it out alive. When I say that I cannot fathom losing 6 people that I love and care about at the same time, I’m sure that most of us can relate.
Fact is that this small town Louisa boy probably felt the same way just one day before the massacre. He stated in the interview that he realized that Orlando was a bigger place than Louisa, but every town is the same. Everyone knows everyone, and if you don’t.. You know someone that does.
He wanted to send the message that there is a go-fund-me account set up for the victims in Orlando in case you felt you wanted to do something to help and didn’t know how. He also said that as of yesterday, there were people in line all the way around the Red Cross Center waiting to donate blood. Whitt said one man went into a fast food restaurant and bought 100 hamburgers and 100 bottles of water to feed the people who were in line.
As Americans we stand together in tragedy.. But when does this end??? When will we ever feel safe in our own towns? Will we EVER?
