Kudos to the Indianola Police Department, the Fire Department and all of the other volunteers who made Gentry’s Homecoming a festive and safe night for visitors and residents.
Many had been on edge about the night’s festivities following a shooting that took the life of a young man in the city 24 hours before kickoff on Friday night.
We never want to minimize the severity of a shooting, particularly homicides, but we also want to remind the citizens of Indianola that, for the most part, you live in a safe community.
Most Delta towns face the challenges brought forth by gun violence, and Indianola is no exception.
Neither are smaller municipalities like Sunflower, Moorhead and Ruleville.
These types of incidents are extremely frustrating, especially as we try to promote our communities as safe places to live and visit.
While we cannot control the brutal actions of a few who murder, shoot and burglarize in our town, we can control the messaging a little better.
In less than 24 hours after the shooting last week, rumors had spread throughout the town, mostly by word of mouth, that more shootings were imminent.
There were rumors that there would be more shootings at the Gentry Homecoming parade. There were rumors that the parade was cancelled.
People told me they heard there would be shootings at the game.
None of this happened.
Thankfully, the good folks at IPD and other agencies helped to ensure that security was a top priority before, during and after the game.
Also, we just don’t live in that kind of community.
Shootings are not rampant here.
Most of the time, the homicides we unfortunately have to report on at The E-T are isolated incidents, many of them involving individuals who already know each other.
In other words, we don’t see a barrage of random acts of violence.
It is safe to walk down the street, without fear of being mugged, shot or hit over the head.
Homeowners should be diligent about protecting their property and making sure valuables are left under lock and key.
Anyone out exercising should be aware of their surroundings at all times to make sure people don’t sneak up on them.
These are just common sense procedures that should be followed everywhere, because no matter where you may live, there are always dangers.
The senseless murder that took place last week was heartbreaking enough, without all of the ensuing rumors that turned out to not be true in most cases.
We had a Homecoming parade.
My two daughters came down to Main Street and watched the entire event, collecting candy with other children.
It was all they talked about this past weekend.
Thanks to the Almighty and all of the agencies involved, there were no incidents this weekend.
I didn’t expect there would be, but enough people did that I feel we all need to be reminded that our community is one that has great people.
We have our problems, but for the most part, we are kept safe, and we should get out and meet our neighbors when opportunities arise.
