Children Grapple With Perplexity Of Shooting Counselors At Grade School To Help Answer Questions

One child thought there was a bomb in the house. Another heard that a man was shooting people randomly on the street. A third thought a nearby church was burning to the ground.

These were some of the rumors and fears Broadway Elementary students brought back to school with them Friday morning, the day after a shooting and fire just blocks away.

Richard Ross, of 801 N. University, shot and killed his brother, Bob Ross, injured his sister, Barbara Janosky, before setting his house on fire and turning the gun on himself.

On Friday, 14 counselors from Central Valley School District met with Broadway staff at 8 a.m. to discuss how to answer children’s questions.

At Adams Elementary, another counselor talked to classmates of Janosky’s 10-year-old daughter about why the girl was not in school Friday. Janosky is in critical condition at Deaconess Medical Center.

A CV counselor also was planning to visit the Care-A-Lot Castle, a daycare center across the street from the shooting, from which Cindy Wikle, her helper and six children were evacuated to Broadway.

Wikle, who’s been in business for 11 years, spent Friday morning preparing a disaster plan in case of another emergency. She also answered a lot of questions about smoke, fire and gunshots.

“The smoke was coming over here, but God made us safe,” said Devin, a 4-year-old girl in the day-care center.

“The fire scared me, but the smoke didn’t scare me,” said Wikle’s 3-year-old son, Ben.

At Broadway, no general announcements were made. There was no mass assembly. That would have heightened the fear, said Principal Margaret Patterson.

Instead, counselors went into each classroom. They dispelled rumors, explaining as factually as possible what had happened.

The children were told “that the situation got so bad because the person didn’t seek help,” said counselor Virginia Elkington.

Counselors and teachers reassured children that they were safe and said it was OK to be scared. But mostly, they let the children air their concerns.

“They just wanted to talk about it more than anything else,” said counselor Bunny Malmstad-Gow. “It was on the news and families were talking. Each (child) had their own little story.”

Some children had been worried about their parents or grandparents, who were evacuated from their homes during the shooting. Others had difficulty sleeping Thursday night. A few first graders, in the cafeteria for breakfast, smelled toast and thought it was smoke.

But by mid-morning, the school had returned to business as usual. “Everybody’s done talking and we’re on with the job of the day,” said Eileen Utecht, the school’s early childhood and day-care coordinator. “I see math books out and spelling books out.”

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