This kind of stuff isn’t supposed to happen here. People are not supposed to start shooting in a crowded Wal-Mart on the day after Christmas. This is not L.A. or Detroit — this is Fort Oglethorpe.

Welcome to the new Catoosa County. Welcome to the side effects of growth and prosperity.

The good old Mayberry bubble has burst.

Mix in two idiots, some alcohol, a little meth and a plan to rob one of the busiest Wal-Mart’s in the country on one of the busiest shopping days of the year and you get a horrible tragedy — but a tragedy that could have been a massacre.

Officers Richard Williams and Chris Clark stared death in the face. They did the job they were sworn to do and shot another human being to protect others. Being a police officer carries colossal burden and risk and these two men deserve tremendous gratitude for preventing the loss of innocent lives. Thank God for these dedicated officers.

There are plenty of adults and children who may have had trouble sleeping that night and many other nights hence; people who will carry this awful memory with them for the rest of their lives; who will think about that horror every time they go shopping because two evil people plotted to commit a heinous robbery.

There had to be hundreds of children in that store and in the parking lot. The young man police say was shot by George Curtis Hughes will hopefully heal both physically and mentally. He did nothing more than show up to work and do his job.

There’s a special place in hell for folks like Perchelli and Hughes.

These two punks from Tennessee have shaken a community but Catoosa will get back to normal.

Unfortunately, two of the most wonderful holidays of the year have been marred by tragedy.

It was Thanksgiving week when another deranged soul decided to kill his grandmother and a pizza delivery driver on Three Notch Road.

In a place growing like Catoosa with houses and stores popping up everywhere crime is expected to increase. Hopefully, what seems inevitable will not happen but that may be a fantasy.

The good people of this county should keep the faith and bind together to support and assist law enforcement and their neighbors and do whatever it takes to keep Catoosa from becoming Chattanooga.

With a lot of prayer and persistence maybe 2006 will be a year blessed with nothing but goodwill and noble deeds and the horrors afflicted on this county in 2005 will fade away like a bad dream