Rigby Police chief, counselor talk about mental health following school shooting

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - Those we call on for help in extreme situations are not immune to mental health issues down the road.

That includes Rigby police officers and first responders still dealing with last week's school shooting, says Rigby Police Chief Sam Tower.

"It's everybody's worst nightmare," Towers said. "We live in a small, really tight-knit community, we always want to put the blinders on and think something like this couldn't happen. And in law enforcement, you train for the when, not if."

Tower said that while they train for every situation, it's different when it's real life.

"It affects every officer differently, just like it affects every other person, but incidents involving children are especially harmful," Tower said.

Tower said that through their employee assistance program, first responders have access to hotlines, counselors and other resources.

"We can't help anybody if we're not right ourselves," Tower said. "So you know we have to be at our best so that we can be leaders in the community and guardians. And so we really have to make sure we're okay. And we are. Our department's doing well. 

Support is available to the community as a whole.

Zak Warren, a counselor at Pearl Health Clinic said adults who weren't directly involved may need someone to talk to as well.

"You're going to have a pretty wide range of reactions," Warren said. "Some folks might be having a sense of guilt that they couldn't have protected... There may be a sense of shock, that, in our town kind of thinking, this kind of thing happens somewhere else. Certainly some grief."

And there's nothing wrong with talking to someone.

"One of the things I say to all my clients on our first visit is it's pretty normal to feel nervous about sharing a personal part of your life with another person," Warren said.

Warren calls it a freeing experience.

"A way we like to describe it is a sense of release," Warren said.