State senator, Hedingham resident: Words without deeds don't amount to a lot

For Dan Blue, a state senator and resident of Raleigh's Hedingham community, the cycle of mass shooting, mourning, thoughts, prayers and questions is one that happens again and again.

On Oct. 13, 2022, his neighborhood in Raleigh became the "again."

Five people were killed – James Thompson, 16, a junior at Knightdale High School and brother of the alleged shooter; an off-duty Raleigh police officer, Gabriel Torres, 29, who was on his way to work when he was shot; a neighbor, Nicole Connors, 52, and Susan Karnatz, 49, and Mary Marshall, 34, who were shot along the Neuse River Greenway.

The trauma for Blue's neighbors, his constituents and his city was clear.

"People were shocked," he said. "You'd hear a car or a bus backfire, people get a little shocked and defensive. Parents were more embracing and protecting their kids because they didn't know what was going to go on."

He says people grew a bit more suspicious of others, an expected response after what happened.

But they also came together.

"It's been a year where people have healed to some extent," Blue said.

His neighbors did what many do: they talked about it. The Hedingham Care Committee hosted discussions for people to openly express their grief.

"We as neighbors need to keep talking; have to embrace each other. We have to comfort each other. We need to talk about these kinds of things happening," he said.

Blue heard from neighbors about "the effects it was having on their kids in school, kids in the neighborhood. The thought that with a lot of the kids you have premature discussions of what death is and all of those things that surround traumatic events that happened."

Blue proposed legislation to address gun violence and prevent people who would do harm from accessing firearms.

He says action is key.

"Words without deeds don't amount to a whole lot," he said.

"We've tried very valiantly to do something about the availability of these guns. We've filed a multitude of bills that would address it, but they've been dead-ended."

Blue's response to the mass shooting that rocked Raleigh goes beyond gun control. He notes the need for mental health support. "We're not putting counselors in schools," he said. "Guns are used in these mass attacks, but they're also used in suicides all the time because they're readily available."

"The politics are keeping us from addressing these issues that people tell us we need to address," Blue said.