Commissioner Jeff Bergosh and Superintendent Tim Smith mentioned counseling being made available for those who experienced the shooting. Sheriff Simmons talked about helping escort a 10-year-old cheerleader and her mom to their car because the young girl was frightened the killers were hiding nearby.
“We’re going to provide grief counseling this Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Wedgewood Community Center,” said Bergosh. “We’re going to pay for that. And anyone who saw this, any player, coach, parent, referee, anyone who was there who had witnessed this gun fight and the violence, if you’re having trouble with it, please feel free to come speak to some folks who can help you process that and work your way through it. I would also say you can visit 988lifeline.org.”
Calling the Bellview shooting “an act of pure evil,” Superintendent Smith said, “We currently have five schools that we start the morning out with crisis counseling for students who may have been at that situation. And I’m thankful for our team, and our student resources department, and our grief counselors, our principals, and teachers who are working together to support our young people who have experienced this.”
Bergosh and Commissioner Lumon May also talked about making the ballparks safer.
“The county is going to work with the Sheriff’s office to schedule additional off-duty deputies,” said Commissioner Bergosh. “We have seven remaining youth home football games in the season, and we’re going to have additional security. We’re going to do everything we can to make these parks a secure place for families.”
Commissioner May said that law enforcement alone isn’t enough. “I, today, petition our parents, our fraternities, our sororities, our pastors, our civil rights leaders, our activists, let’s make it point and show up and help law enforcement. Let’s show up to these games and put a hedge of protection around our children. We can’t be afraid. We can’t give in. We must let our presence be shown. We cannot let the criminals win over our children.”
“We stand up here in front of people and we tell you that we will not tolerate this,” said Sheriff Simmons. “We’re going to have more manpower at these ballparks. I spoke to Mr. Smith a little while ago about where the high school games are going to be. There’s going to be heightened security at all of these locations. And there’s going to be shared intelligence, shared information and a lot more video presence.”
He added, “Bad guys don’t like to do crimes in public areas because they’re afraid someone’s going to tell on them. Someone’s going to witness what’s going on and someone’s going to be courageous enough to let law enforcement know. And that’s what I’m asking for. I’m asking for someone to be courageous enough and to do the right thing and to let us know.”
Sheriff Simmons said he plans to call together a violent crimes roundtable in the next two weeks to discuss the recent shootings and how to move the community forward.