"You can say that it's 'normalized' and maybe we do become numb a little bit. But these kind of events can never be 'normal.' I mean they can't be...When you see one like San Bernardino, you go back to Roseburg...It just makes it where one event makes the Roseburg event flare up. These kind of things don't ever go away." — Mary Treece, Roseburg resident
John Rosman / OPB
"The weight on your shoulders early on in a situation like this is pretty overwhelming. You go to bed at night and you find yourself thinking about what you need to do tomorrow or what you forgot to do that day or just thinking about the families and the grief and sorrow that they must be going through and relive each and every day.” — John Hanlin, Douglas County Sheriff
John Rosman / OPB
"I didn't agree with [President Obama coming to Roseburg]. I think that was ridiculous. It's great that he came for the families, but at the same time the wrong way to go about things. There was so much hurt from the families that it was the wrong time for him to come." — Nicole Philips, Roseburg resident
John Rosman / OPB
"So, immediately it was predictably devastating. Since then, I've felt sort of unsettled and disconcerted as I've felt myself sort of going back into a standard or normal point of reference or way of living personally and then to think again and realize so many people in our community will never have a standard or normal point of reference, that their life will always be different even as mine begins to become predictably as it was — that bothers me." — Scott Wadsworth, Roseburg resident
John Rosman / OPB
“I think about it every day. We talk about it every day. We focus more about, ‘I’m just so thankful that we’re here right now, two months later, and we’re thankful for the opportunity to go back.’ It’s really about looking towards the future.” — Hannah Miles, first year student at Umpqua Community College
John Rosman / OPB
"I remember when we were in high school we used to bring our guns to wood shop and we'd do the stocks. I mean everybody had a gun in their truck. Now, I don't know. Am I going to have to start packing a pistol again? Maybe if everybody had a pistol this stuff would stop." — Donald Thompson, Roseburg resident
John Rosman / OPB
"I had just boarded a bus — I was headed for Portland because we're moving up there — and the bus driver announced over the intercom that there was a shooting at UCC. Everybody just [let out a sad moan]. Then we got really quiet. It was about an hour before anybody even said anything again. It was just complete silence." — Janet Kathleen Wiliams, Roseburg resident
John Rosman / OPB
“It ranges from day to day. Sometimes from hour to hour… Sometimes you don’t know what’s wrong and you can’t concentrate or focus and it’s a bad day, and you don’t know why.” — Joshua Friedlein, second year student and vice president of the Associated Students of Umpqua Community College
John Rosman / OPB
"When the tragedy happened, I got calls from people as far away as Australia to find out if me and my family were okay...It was just overwhelming to know that people were thinking about you and were praying for you." — Pati Calvert, co-owner of Leopatical vintage shop in downtown Roseburg Leopatical
John Rosman / OPB
“On September 30th, we felt really safe. I mean, we had this beautiful campus and the deer were walking around and it was a beautiful, sparkly day and it was one of those places where you don’t lock your door — everybody knows everybody. That’s how we felt on September 30th. Now we’re actually safer. We’re a lot more vigilant, we have a lot more security…but we feel less safe.” — Rita Cavin, interim president of Umpqua Community College
John Rosman / OPB
It's been two months since the Southern Oregon city of Roseburg joined a growing list of places such as Sandy Hook, Aurora, Colorado Springs, and San Bernardino, where mass shootings have claimed multiple lives and shattered a community's sense of safety. The shooting on Oct. 1 at Umpqua Community College (UCC) left 10 people dead, including the shooter, and nine more wounded.
We traveled to Roseburg this week to hear from UCC students and community members about how they are healing, what they're still struggling with, and where they've seen resilience in the aftermath of this trauma.
GUESTS:
- Rita Cavin: Interim president of Umpqua Community College
- Hannah Miles: First year student at Umpqua Community College
- Joshua Friedlein: Second year student and vice president of Associated Students of Umpqua Community College
- Chris Boice: Douglas County Commissioner
- Jeff Ackerman: Editor and Publisher of the News-Review