I like to think of Medford Oregon as one of the safe sheltered places on this earth. For the most part it is, but this week tragedy struck with the killing of 5 people a few blocks from my office.Even more tragic is that 4 of the five victims were small children.The fifth was their mother. The five body's were taken from their home, which was on fire, by our local first responders. The victims had all been stabbed before a fire was started in their home. Their father (and husband) is in a local hospital suffering from smoke inhalation under police guard until the local authorities can determine the person who caused this crime. When the police and fire personal arrived on scene they thought it was just another home fire until they viewed the grizzly facts and attempted to revive the 5 victims in the front yard of the home.
Our local newspaper published pictures of the makeshift triage in the front yard. The look on the faces of the first responders told the tragic story. They tried to revive the victims with no success. The local hospital emergency room soon confirmed the harsh facts. The police officers who responded were sent home early. The photographer for the local newspaper told of his distress today in a highly personal story. A makeshift memorial has been placed in front of the home as Medford and Jackson County attempts to come to grips with the fact we are not as sheltered as we thought.
Click on the title above for a link to one of the many excellent news reports of the event published in the Medford Mail Tribune Newspaper.
