It’s never easy to deal with a high-profile death in the community.
Whether the public interest comes from the person’s high profile during their life or whether it comes from the circumstances surrounding the person’s death, as in this week’s story about the alleged murder in Busby, it can tend to have a sobering effect on a community of this size.
Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to jump to conclusions. The usual answers from police are always short, vague and very carefully worded, as they rightly point out that the matter is or will be before the courts.
So all we really know about what happened in Busby — through the official channels, anyway — is that two men are dead and a third is in jail, charged with manslaughter and second-degree murder in relation to the two deaths.
And we also know that tragically, the victims were the alleged shooter’s son and a family friend, respectively.
In a community like ours with a total population of just 13,000, many people know those who were involved and almost everyone knows someone who knows the people who were involved.
Inevitably, the rumour mill starts to do its work… but it’s important to avoid feeding it.
Speculation as to the motives involved is already running rampant. We’ve heard many different thoughts on the matter, not all of which are particularly flattering to those involved.
But as the alleged shooter has yet to even make a first court appearance, anything that’s said should be taken with a big grain of salt.
What happened in Busby is undoubtedly a tragedy. And it’s human nature that in the face of tragedy, we want to know more. We crave the understanding of how something like this could have happened.
The people of Busby, especially, must still be reeling at the news and wondering how something like this could have happened in their tiny hamlet.
But idle speculation will do no good, and may actually do some long-term harm. We’ll continue to follow this story as it develops and makes its way through the court system — a process that can often take years to resolve itself.
In the meantime, we must try to let the families and the community grieve in peace.
