#alexsullivan

When I first got the news of the shooting, I was driving home from the premier in Arizona. I was ranting and raving about how amazing of a movie it was, texting a friend of mine. Then I got a picture message from one of the people I saw the movie with. It was a news article of the massacre in Aurora. My hometown. I kept reading to find out that a man had unleashed gunshots on a movie theatre full of people who had just began the premier of Batman: The Dark Knight Rises.

I got home, laid in bed, unable to sleep. Thinking how could someone ever do such a thing. Never once did it cross my mind that I knew anyone involved. I haven't lived there in eight years.

I received a text from my sister-in-law telling me that a family friend of our's, Alex Sullivan, was missing from the crime scene. Yesterday was his 27th birthday and he ended it by going to see the premier of Batman. Never even thinking it could mean him dying.

His car was stranded at the theatre, he was unreachable on his cell, and no one had heard from him since the madness had begun. His dad and other members of his family went to Gateway High School to try and get answers as all of the low-risk victims and witnesses had been taken there. No luck. No word of him at any of the surrounding hospitals.

We were just hoping his name slipped through the cracks and everything would be fine. Then, 9:02. Another call from my sister-in-law. His family identified his body. Deceased.

You Never Think It Could Happen To You. You never think it could be someone you know. This time, it was.