Guest Author - Jessica Steinmetz

On Tuesday, April 19, 2005, there was a murder and suicide in my neighborhood. How does that affect a woman with cerebral palsy?

It was a beautiful spring day. Being as devout Catholic, I was elated when I flipped on the news and learned of the new Pope Benedict XVI. It was just a good day.

In the afternoon, my attendant, Luba and I went to Home Depot. She loaded up my manual wheelchair and put me in her SUV. As a woman with a disability, you need to depend on people taking you out. My attendant helps me when my husband is at work.

We picked up grass seed and came home. We sat outside for a few minutes. My attendant took out the seed and some other stuff we brought. The neighborhood was quiet, just like always. Luba helped me inside and we both had a cold soda.

I put on some music when we heard it - the first bang. We both heard it, but thought someone had a loud car. My sister called saying she was on her way to take a walk in my neighborhood. After I hung up, we heard more bangs and quickly realized that they were coming from a shotgun at my neighbor's house. Luba went on the sunporch and heard screaming. All I heard were shots, and then silence.

After three hours of police standoff and the SWAT team, they went in and discovered that the gunman killed a 15 year old girl and himself. He was her stepfather.

As a woman with a disability, I felt scared because I couldn't run like others if the gun man were loose. My house was pretty safe though because the police were all over. The community will never be the same and neither will I. I can't bear the sound of a gun yet even on television.

Safety Suggestions:
- Keep clear of windows
- Lock all the doors
- If the a person with a gun enters your house, get out of the home immediately. Don't hide in closets because you'll corner yourself.
- Try not to imagine things worse than they are
- Let someone know you're in danger