There exists a Bend before Sunday evening and a Bend after Sunday evening.

As the city awoke Monday morning, Bend didn’t feel quite the same. Residents reeled with shock, horror and tears Monday as Bend joined the ranks of cities across the nation plagued by gun violence after a shooter opened fire Sunday evening in and around a Safeway grocery store, killing two people and himself.

Bend resident Pedro Antonio, 52, said he wonders how to explain Sunday’s shooting to his 8-year-old son. He said he feels after Sunday night he has to be more watchful.

”The only thing I can do is tell him, if something happens like that — if you hear shooting guns — you just go down,” Antonio said.

Krista Ratliff, 51, and her daughter, Camile Ratliff, 14, usually shop at the Safeway where the shooting occurred. “We need gun control,” Krista Ratliff said, “And there are sick people everywhere, even in our community.”

The aftermath of Sunday’s shooting gave way to a gun control debate among Bend residents. Some, like Ratliff, called for stricter gun control. Others, like Lee Gregory, 60, saw Sunday’s events as a reason to get a gun sooner than he had initially planned.

“This, to me, is an act of terror,” Bend Mayor Pro-Tem Anthony Broadman said to The Bulletin after a press conference Monday, during which the Bend Police Department identified the two victims as Donald Ray Surrett Jr., 66, a Safeway employee, and Glenn Edward Bennett, 84, a customer. The shooter was identified as Bend resident Ethan Blair Miller, 20.

“Today we’re mourning,” Broadman said, “And I want to guard against the cynicism that this is something that happens regularly because I won’t accept that. And I don’t think Bend will either.”

Bend City Manager Eric King said after the press conference that he wanted to thank first responders, especially Bend Fire & Rescue. Members of the fire department began their day at a memorial service for fellow service member Daniel Harro and his twin brother, Mark, and ended their day at the scene of an attempted mass shooting.

Said City Councilor Barb Campbell, “We can do more.” “We can do better to protect everyone from the danger that the weapons present when they’re in the hands of the wrong person.”

Campbell and King attended the press conference as audience members. Also in the audience were Bend City Councilor Stephen Sehgal and Deschutes County Commissioner Tony DeBone.

“We don’t want to see this kind of activity in our community,” DeBone said.

Safeway and the labor union representing grocery store workers have set up a drop-in counseling site at a hotel near the store on U.S. Highway 20 and NE 27th Street. The store will remain closed for a week, said Miles Eshala, United Food and Commercial Workers Union communications coordinator. The union represents more than 28,000 workers in Oregon, Southwestern Washington, Idaho and Wyoming.

“Our community has experienced a traumatic event. There’s really no one way to feel,” said Janic Garceau, Deschutes County Health Services Behavioral Health deputy director. “People are going to feel something. Feeling negative feelings, fear, distress or anxiety is normal. It’s very important for people to give time, space and grace to feel what they’re feeling.”

The county has set up a drop-in counseling center at Pilot Butte Middle School on Monday. It’s a one-on-one or small group support session for anyone in the community experiencing the need for support, Garceau said. It’s staffed by chaplains, St. Charles Health System and Deschutes County behavioral health staff who have been trained in critical incident response strategies, she said.

Anyone can attend the drop-in counseling from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday and on Tuesday as needed at the middle school, 1501 NE Neff Road in Bend. However, if experiencing a psychiatric emergency or serious thoughts of self-harm, residents are urged to call the 988 crisis line or reach out to the Deschutes County Stabilization Center for walk-in psychiatric crisis services at 63311 Jamison St.

In a press release, state Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend, said Monday, “This violence has no place in Bend, nor in any town. Everyone deserves safety and to not live in fear while grocery shopping, commuting to work, attending school, gathering to worship, or just simply going about their day.”

Kropf said in the release Sunday’s shooting reaffirmed his commitment of “taking action to end gun violence and keep our communities safe.”

If you’re feeling stressed, notice significant changes in mood, behaviors, thoughts, sleep or other habits, and reach out for support. Remember self care is important to manage stress.

Helpful activities include: doing laundry; take a shower; take your medication; pay bills or brush your teeth; listen to music, create art, take a walk. Avoid risky behaviors like over-indulging in substances that can be destructive.

Source: Deschutes County Health Services Behavioral Health