Bob McCarty Writes

I arrived in downtown Kirkwood, Mo., just after 10 o’clock local time this morning in time to receive a handout from Officer Tracy Panus of the St. Louis County Police Department. Printed on city letterhead, the handout — not a news release or background paper — spoke volumes about the bonds that tie the people of this St. Louis suburb together in the wake of the they experienced Thursday night, just after 7 p.m.

The handout read as follows:

Kirkwood is a community of friends, neighbors and small businesses who find positive ways to work together. That is why this is such an incredible shock to us all. This is a tragedy of untold magnitude.

Our hearts go out to the families of those killed: Sgt. Bill Biggs, Officer Tom Ballman, City Council Member Mike Lynch, City Council Member Connie Karr, and Public Works Director Ken Yost. These families know that they have the prayers and support of the entire Kirkwood community.

Mayor Mike Swoboda is in serious condition and reporter Todd Smith is in satisfactory condition. We give all of our prayers and support to them and to their families.

The business of the city will continue and we will recover. But we will never be the same. The healing process starts right now.

This is a great community and the people of Kirkwood will pull together and carry on. We do this first by honoring the victims and by supporting their families.

Deputy Mayor Tim Griffin

Click here to see the photos I took of the sights and sounds of Kirkwood the morning after the shootings.

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To read other posts about the Kirkwood City Hall shootings, click here.