It was shortly after 4 in the afternoon when the first word came of the shooting at a dental office in the city of El Cajon from people on neighborhood apps.
People nearby the location of the shooting said they heard gunfire but they at first thought it was something else. Firecrackers maybe they said.
Then the word started spreading across social media platforms and text messages were sent out to friends wanting to know what was happening and where.
As police converged on the scene of what was described on police scanners as an active shooter at a dental office, a place that is usually a pretty quiet place, became a place of pandemonium.
Traffic was stopped. Nearby residents ran for cover and from our news helicopter you see officers with guns drawn moving toward the door of the building.
And among the first reactions from people in El Cajon? Questions like this: Is what we see and hear on the news really happening in our own town?
With the number of mass shootings that there are across the country every year, most of us probably think it won’t happen where I live. But thousands of Americans have come to realize, shootings can and do happen everywhere and anywhere.
And now people in El Cajon know that if they hadn’t already. And certainly the families of the three gunshot victims know it.
Sadly there will be other shootings. And there will be more calls for something to be done about it.
Maybe now. Maybe next time. Let’s hope so.
(Photo reporting partner 10News)