Colorado Movie Theater Shooting: Snellville Reacts

Reports flooded in this morning of a shooting that took place during a viewing of Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Col.  Suspect James Holmes, 24, tossed tear gas into the crowd and opened fire, killing 12 and wounding 38.  

Pastor John Byerly of weighed in with his own thoughts in a conversation with Snellville Patch.  

"Our hearts and prayers go out to all the victims and their familes in this senseless tragedy," said Rev. Byerly.  "I don't think any of us  can understand what drives a person to do such evil. Things like this can drive us to fear and despair, but I hope they drive us instead to faith and courage. It is the Lord's help we need more than any in this nation.

Evil will not triumph where faith is strong."  

had a similar reaction to the news, expressing sympathy to the families of the victims.  He noted the amount of preparation it must have taken for the suspect to have pulled off such a massive attack.

"Whenever something like this occurs, we immediately try to determine the reason, but unfortunately, I don't believe there is one," said Emanuel, "aside from the obvious- the perpetrator is mentally disturbed. I can think of no other reason for a person to randomly shoot or assault people...

Of course, the question that immediately comes to mind is, 'How do we prevent something like this from happening in the future?' Hopefully, we can find a way to better identify and help people who are intent on hurting others." 

One Snellville Patch reader posted on our Facebook page:

"A very dark night for many....this could happen anywhere. Security I imagine for movie outlets will have to be increase like other events in our world. I pray for the families...."

(Editor's note:  Snellville Patch has reached out to other community leaders for their reaction, and will continue to update this story.)  

Does the world feel less safe than it has in the past?  Should more security measures be imposed in public spaces?