it is a nice early Fall Tuesday day in the US.
People go about their business as usual.
Children are back at school.
And across the United States people feel confident and safe as they go about their daily lives.
On the East Coast people are beginning to consider what to have for lunch as on the west coast they are just beginning their day.
This is a simpler time. A time before smart phones and social media came to dominate communications. It is a day when cell phones were just becoming common. And information had to be passed by word of mouth or. Via television stations such as CNN. This is a day before instant news
In many ways it is a more innocent time.
But unbeknownst to the world by the end of the day that innocence will be shattered. Torn away in the events of the day, never to return as the most powerful country the world has ever seen is taught a lesson in terror and the evils of man the likes of which it has never seen.
As the morning ends on the east coast reports begin on the cable news networks of a disturbing incident in NYC. Reports of a lone gunman who using a high powered hunting rifle has shot a number of people.
These reports, at first differing greatly begin to converge. Soon the report is at least 10 have been shot. Then the horror is ratchet up a notch as it is discovered that the scene of the shooting is the playground of an elementary school.
Soon police reports indicate that the suspected gun man was killed in a shoot out when a police officer happened upon the scene. Unfortunately at least two police officers were shot in the ensuing gun fight.
As this news is slowly spreading through the population of the country reports of a second incident begin to filter in. From a wealthy suburb outside of Detroit reports come in of a gun man entering a private school. And the local police responding to the attack. No further information was forthcoming until the local Detroit affiliate begins to report from outside the school, by shear coincidence they happened to have a mobile unit in the area and heard on a police scanner about the attack.
As the feed is being transmitted back to the station and then to television through the US people watch in utter shock as the glass windows of front of the building all burst outward as a large explosion rocks the building.
Then with an even more shocked look on his face (if that could be possible) a well known national news anchor breaks into all affiliated stations that had not been covering the shootings. He quickly summarizes the two shootings and gravely informs the national audience that at least 10 children are confirmed dead and another 11 injured in the NYC incident and that the situation in Michigan is still unknown but that the private high school is now known to be on fire.
Then after taking a deep breath and with tears forming in his eyes he continues.
“My fellow Americans it is with deepest sympathy and complete sadness that I have to inform you that we have now confirmed three more attacks on schools.”
“The first occurred in a middle school in Orlando Florida. Police are currently on site and we will update as we know more but preliminary reports are at least 6 students have been shot”
“The 2nd or perhaps more accurately the 4th of today’s attacks occurred in a day care center in Rhode Island”.
“And the last of these horrendous attacks has happened in an elementary school in Little Rock”
“We can only prey for all those effected by these horrible events”
And the word of mouth increases in speed as more and more people begin passing the news around.
What started off as a typical Tuesday in September is shaping up to be a bad day indeed. One of those days like Dec 7th 1941 or the day Kennedy was assassinated. A day where twenty years later you will always remember where you were. In the future everyone would remember Tuesday Sept 11th 2001.
And the day was only starting.
People go about their business as usual.
Children are back at school.
And across the United States people feel confident and safe as they go about their daily lives.
On the East Coast people are beginning to consider what to have for lunch as on the west coast they are just beginning their day.
This is a simpler time. A time before smart phones and social media came to dominate communications. It is a day when cell phones were just becoming common. And information had to be passed by word of mouth or. Via television stations such as CNN. This is a day before instant news
In many ways it is a more innocent time.
But unbeknownst to the world by the end of the day that innocence will be shattered. Torn away in the events of the day, never to return as the most powerful country the world has ever seen is taught a lesson in terror and the evils of man the likes of which it has never seen.
As the morning ends on the east coast reports begin on the cable news networks of a disturbing incident in NYC. Reports of a lone gunman who using a high powered hunting rifle has shot a number of people.
These reports, at first differing greatly begin to converge. Soon the report is at least 10 have been shot. Then the horror is ratchet up a notch as it is discovered that the scene of the shooting is the playground of an elementary school.
Soon police reports indicate that the suspected gun man was killed in a shoot out when a police officer happened upon the scene. Unfortunately at least two police officers were shot in the ensuing gun fight.
As this news is slowly spreading through the population of the country reports of a second incident begin to filter in. From a wealthy suburb outside of Detroit reports come in of a gun man entering a private school. And the local police responding to the attack. No further information was forthcoming until the local Detroit affiliate begins to report from outside the school, by shear coincidence they happened to have a mobile unit in the area and heard on a police scanner about the attack.
As the feed is being transmitted back to the station and then to television through the US people watch in utter shock as the glass windows of front of the building all burst outward as a large explosion rocks the building.
Then with an even more shocked look on his face (if that could be possible) a well known national news anchor breaks into all affiliated stations that had not been covering the shootings. He quickly summarizes the two shootings and gravely informs the national audience that at least 10 children are confirmed dead and another 11 injured in the NYC incident and that the situation in Michigan is still unknown but that the private high school is now known to be on fire.
Then after taking a deep breath and with tears forming in his eyes he continues.
“My fellow Americans it is with deepest sympathy and complete sadness that I have to inform you that we have now confirmed three more attacks on schools.”
“The first occurred in a middle school in Orlando Florida. Police are currently on site and we will update as we know more but preliminary reports are at least 6 students have been shot”
“The 2nd or perhaps more accurately the 4th of today’s attacks occurred in a day care center in Rhode Island”.
“And the last of these horrendous attacks has happened in an elementary school in Little Rock”
“We can only prey for all those effected by these horrible events”
And the word of mouth increases in speed as more and more people begin passing the news around.
What started off as a typical Tuesday in September is shaping up to be a bad day indeed. One of those days like Dec 7th 1941 or the day Kennedy was assassinated. A day where twenty years later you will always remember where you were. In the future everyone would remember Tuesday Sept 11th 2001.
And the day was only starting.