Another small town dealing with tragedy
The quiet existence of a small Fayette County community was shattered one week ago when a gunman killed four people in Melcroft during an ambush-style shooting.
Outside Ed’s Car Wash on Indian Creek Valley Road, Timothy Smith shot and killed William Porterfield, Cortney Snyder and siblings Chelsie and William Cline. The tragic event undoubtedly shattered families, leaving them to wonder what led Smith to commit such a cowardly and unnecessary act.
Clad in body armor without the ballistics inserts, Smith, armed with a .308 sniper rifle, an AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle and a 9-mm handgun, lay in wait until two vehicles carrying his victims arrived at the car wash.
Then, police said, he began firing at them, before taking his own life.
An unidentified woman in the back of one of the vehicles was the lone survivor, ducking down as the shooting began. Her physical injuries were minor, police said, sustained from the glass that shattered as bullets ripped through the truck.
While that recovery will be a swift one, the emotional scars of such a life-altering event are likely to heal much slower if ever.
Jealousy over a woman may have been behind the shooting. Yet, knowing what motivated such a senseless act of violence doesn’t provide much solace in a town of a few hundred.
The tiny community of Melcroft makes up about 10 percent of Saltlick Township’s 3,400 residents. There aren’t many businesses within its borders, and those who live there said everyone knows everyone. Some residents said they still felt comfortable leaving their doors unlocked at night.
The unincorporated community was rarely in the news for anything, and certainly not the headline.
One of the township’s supervisors said that before Jan. 28, “The worst thing you’d ever hear about is a car wreck.”
Now, an internet search for Melcroft brings up local and national news coverage of the mass shooting.
It has become yet another community where people now question their safety and will re-evaluate their previously unconsidered level of comfort.
But in a small town, being shaken doesn’t mean shutting down and shutting out those who may be in need.
In the hours after the shooting, residents came to the scene, hugging and comforting those who lost someone, and in the ensuing days, community members continued to try and help the victims’ families in whatever ways they could.
More than 150 people attended a vigil Monday at Christian Life Assembly church in Melcroft, leaning on one another for support and listening to words of hope.
“Such a tragedy can cause us to isolate ourselves from the community,” said the Rev. Doug Nolt, pastor of Indian Head Church of God. “But such a tragedy can also bring us together. We will not let this tragedy overcome us.”
As the headlines fade, and the Melcroft community begins to heal, may Nolt’s words offer guidance, strengthening bonds in the small town, and offering words of wisdom to those in grief.