SOUTH OGDEN, Utah — Nearly a month after a tragedy in a South Ogden neighborhood, a woman next door said it just hasn’t been the same. "Everyone deals with things differently, but this is affected me a lot,” said Ranae Wheeler. “I’ve never been this close to something like this, and it’s a daily process.”
Wheeler lives two houses down from where a shooting took place on January 8. Police said James Joseph Rios shot at neighbors and police from his home, and was arrested later that night.
Brandon Kay and his son, who live across the stree,t were shot that night. Kay died a few days later, and it's a tragedy still weighing heavily on people who were here when it happened.
"The loud speakers, saying ‘surrender,’ the shots and it was just over and over, the hustle and bustle of police officers, sirens, everything, just is a lot,” Wheeler said. She woke up the sound that night, and it has stuck with her since.
Even though there are no more police cars, sirens or crime scene tape up anymore, Wheeler said the neighborhood is still recovering from what happened that night. She has not been able to open her blinds since that night.
"Every single morning, I would get up to be able to see the whole neighborhood, what they were doing,” explained Wheeler. “There’s no one out there anymore, so why open then up?"
She added that the neighborhood has become quiet, and even with the warm weather, she hasn’t seen many people just out and about. She can’t stop thinking about what could have happened.
"What if one of my grandkids would have been here? And it just breaks my heart. This neighborhood has always been safe, and to me, it does not feel safe anymore,” Wheeler added. She's planning to move out. "As long as I’ve been here, nothing like this has every happened,” she said.
She has been thinking about the families suffering, and hopes she never experiences this again. "Value every single moment that you have with the people that are close to you,” Ranae said.
We spoke to an expert on trauma about what happens when something scary unfolds near your home, which should be your safe space. Melanie Richardson, a licensed clinical social worker in Ogden, said grounding techniques and having loved ones close can help, but if you're seeing signs that things might not be okay, it's okay to seek professional help.
"One of the important things that people need to understand is trauma isn’t necessarily what happened to you, trauma is how you're reliving it in your head,” she said. “So if you continue to fixate on it without getting help, then that amplifies things and makes it worse. So it’s really beneficial if you can get help earlier rather than later.”
Richardson, some signs to look out for in yourself and loved ones after a tragedy close by, might be hypervigilance, fear, lots of crying, shaking, trouble sleeping, nightmares or isolation.
So far, the suspect in this case, Rios has only appeared once in court, where he had an outburst in the courtroom. Since then, he refused to appear twice. His lawyers have now asked for a mental health evaluation to be done. The court granted that, so his next hearing is scheduled for March 10th at 9 a.m. in Ogden.
