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An Aspiring Sportscaster Was Killed In The Massacre In Colorado Last Night, And Her Final Tweets Are Haunting

As you undoubtedly know, the news story overwhelming all others today is the horrific shooting in an Aurora, Colo. movie theater that left at least 12 dead and dozens more wounded. You’ve probably heard that there’s a suspect in custody named James Holmes, and that his mother’s reported reaction upon hearing he was a suspect (“You have the right person. I need to call the police… I need to fly out to Colorado”) is as unsettling as anything you’ll hear today.

Odds are, your morning’s been consumed by reading about it, reading reactions to it, seeing the post on Reddit by a guy who said he was in the theater when the gunman opened fire (and has a wound to prove it) , and generally not caring a whole lot about anything else. We’re in the same boat, and frankly, it feels a little dumb to even be posting on anything else, but the show must go on. There is, though, one connection from the tragedy in Colorado to the sports world, which we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention here.

The connection is Jessica Redfield (born Jessica Ghawi). She was killed in the shooting. She was new to Denver, having recently moved there from San Antonio, and she was an aspiring sports journalist. (Eerily, she was also present when a gunman opened fire at the Eaton Center in Toronto last month, and wrote about the experience.) She’d written on the NHL for Busted Coverage, and those in the industry who’ve spoken about her have done so in glowing terms.

And there was Twitter. Redfield tweeted a ton, sending over 11,000 tweets in all… including several from shortly before The Dark Knight Rises was set to begin last night in Aurora. Reading those tweets is a surreal, haunting experience, and it really does put a human face on an event like this that feels almost impossible to process. A few of those tweets:

Never thought I’d have to coerce a guy into seeing the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises with me.

— Jessica Redfield (@JessicaRedfield) July 20, 2012

Of course we’re seeing Dark Knight.Redheaded Texan spitfire, people should never argue with me.Maybe I should get in on those NHL talks…

— Jessica Redfield (@JessicaRedfield) July 20, 2012

@jessespector MOVIE DOESN’T START FOR 20 MINUTES

— Jessica Redfield (@JessicaRedfield) July 20, 2012

All these people thought they were going to have a night of fun. They were seeing a movie – one of the most down-to-earth, everyday leisurely activities there is. And now this? All that’s left to do now is hope the justice system does its work and remember that the 12 killed were 12 human beings with stories and failures and triumphs and pasts and futures and lives. Looking at Redfield’s tweets, that’s going to be tough to forget.

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