INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The shock wave from a school shooting that left a 15-year-old boy critically injured in Martinsville will be felt far beyond the classroom, said the director of a clinic that's offering counseling to children and their parents.
"These kind of issues ripple beyond the school" as people wrestle with the unpredictability of violence in modern life, said Matt Oliver, clinic services director at Centerstone, a community mental health provider in the city about 30 miles south of Indianapolis.
Indiana State Police Sgt. Curt Durnil said the 15-year-old boy suspected of shooting Chance Jackson just inside the entrance of Martinsville West Middle School early Friday was still being held Saturday, though he did not say where. Durnil said the teenager could be charged as early as next week.
Methodist Hospital spokeswoman Sharon Richards said Jackson was in critical but stable condition Saturday following surgery Friday.
The shooting on the last day of classes before the start of spring break sparked an hours-long lockdown as hundreds of panicked parents awaited word on their children. The school, with about 600 students and 39 teachers, is one of two middle schools in the city of about 12,000.
As students huddled in darkened classrooms and waited to go home while police surrounded the school, Centerstone sent therapists to assist the school's guidance counselors in calming the children. Oliver said it was important to let the kids talk about what they had seen so they could then get a grasp on how they felt about it.
"Basically, shock was the biggest thing yesterday," said Oliver, a clinical psychologist. "Ultimately, talking about it is helpful."
Warehouse worker Bill Krise, 35, said his stepdaughter and a close friend in eighth grade were outside the school getting ready for class when they heard the gunshots and then saw Chance bleeding on the ground. The family already has contacted Centerstone, where they receive family counseling, he said.
Melissa Payne, a nurse, said her high school junior daughter is having a harder time coping than her eighth-grade son, who was within 200 yards of the shooting.
Oliver said the shock of a violent event like Friday's shooting is felt by the whole community, in part because everyone has gone to school and can identify with the students.
And parents had their own set of issues, worrying about what their kids might have seen and then dealing with confusion that surrounded the school dismissal.
"Yesterday was hard being a parent," Krise said.
"There's kind of a gamut of emotions that people were feeling," Oliver said. Shock, fear, disbelief, followed by anger or sadness are common in such events, he said. But most people manage to cope.
What upsets most people is the unpredictable nature of violence, Oliver said, and the inability to control it. Events like candlelight vigils, even community forums reviewing how officials dealt with a crisis, can help people cope by giving them more of a sense of control, he said.
"Life is crazy. Life involves risks. But most people have a pretty decent psychological hardiness about them," Oliver said.
What parents need to watch for, he said, are signs that kids aren't shaking off these feelings in the days that follow the shooting. Being more moody, withdrawn or moody for a few days is normal, he said, but if a child's sleep or eating habits remain unsettled or their mood interferes with things they usually enjoy doing, he suggested parents seek counseling for them.
"I think some of the children who were very close to the incident may be struggling a little bit more," said Stan Piercefield, a local manager with mental health advocate Mental Health America, which runs a homeless shelter and a domestic violence shelter in Martinsville.
Centerstone will offer free walk-in clincs at its Martinsville center on Monday and Tuesday.
"It's still very fresh. I think the community's going to need a day or two to kind of let things settle down before we decide what the next step's going to be," said Piercefield.
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