As shocked Roseburg heals, the president comes calling
The tight-knit community of Roseburg is slowly healing, a week after an awful tragedy struck, and residents say even the divisions over President Obama’s visit to meet with victims’ families Friday won’t slow their efforts to come together and move forward.
The wounds wrought at Umpqua Community College as still fresh in Roseburg, but residents say the community is strong, and they are uniting in a time of need.
“I think we’ve started to breathe again,” one resident said Thursday.
In a community this small, you don’t have to go very far to run into someone who has ties to the college
Dave and Valerie West are both enrolled at UCC, and on that fateful Thursday, Dave was attending a class when a gunman opened fire in his classroom, killing nine people and wounding several others before officers shot him and he turned the gun on himself.
“I left the classroom,” he recalled. “My class was actually over at 10 o’clock. Went to the bookstore, came back, talked to a couple of people. And when I pulled out, I heard shots. I didn’t know at the time they were shots. I realized that when I got back home.”
Meanwhile, his wife was watching the horror unfold on TV.
“I was still in shock,” she said. “I was supposed to be in class right after that, and my mind just didn’t wrap around it. I just didn’t understand.”
As the shock is slowly easing, the community indeed is pulling together.
“There are wonderful things,” a resident said. “I’m an ex-teacher here, and a lot of my students are involved in fundraisers. They’re raising thousands and thousands of dollars. I think it’s really neat to see them come together.”
The president’s visit to Roseburg is splitting opinions, as it is elsewhere.
“I think it’s a good deal, show his support to the community and the family,” one said.
But another said, “It’s just not appropriate for him to come here at this time, I think.” But yet another said, “I’m very glad he’s coming here. I think the families want to meet with him, and I think that’s wonderful.”
On the other side, another resident: “I don’t want him here, not at all. I was insulted.” But others see it as a good thing: “I think the nation holds our hearts, and he is here to express that.”
No matter your political views, the tragedy has brought the community even closer together. After an interview, Kristine Stolz walked up to me with a rose. She said Roseburg is a remarkable town, and this rose is representing the strength and peace of this town.
NewsChannel 21’s team of Wanda Moore, Samantha O’Connor, Emily Kirk and photographer Trent Penter will be in Roseburg for Friday’s visit and at the airport in Eugene for the president’s arrival. Watch for updates on KTVZ.COM, on our Facebook page and Twitter feed and, of course, a complete report Friday evening on NewsChannel 21 at 4 on Fox and 5 and 6 on NBC.
