Another gun incident, and the world just shrugs

As I finished my work day a few hours ago, my Facebook news feed had several posts on the story of a killing in Roanoke, Virginia, that was nothing short of senseless.
And I could only bow my head, say a prayer, and shed a few more tears.
The deaths of 24-year-old Alison Parker, a reporter for CBS affiliate WDBJ-TV, and her cameraman, 27-year-old Adam Ward, were simply doing their jobs on a live shot during the station's morning news at around 6:45 a.m. Eastern time. A man identified as 41-year-old Vester Lee Flanagan, who was a former employee at WDBJ, walked up to only a few feet away and shot Parker, Ward, and the woman she was interviewing, 61-year-old Vicki Gardner, and opened fire.
Gardner was shot in the back, but multiple reports are saying she is out of surgery and in stable condition.
A few hours later, police caught up with Flanagan on Interstate 66 in a Chevy Sonic he had rented from the Roanoke Airport. The car ran into a ditch and Flanagan was found with life-threatening injuries from a gunshot wound. He later died. Here is a link to the story as reported by Roanoke station WWBT.
All the publicity Flanagan, who used the stage name Bryce Williams when he worked at WDBJ, deserves from this morning's tragedy is the following. He was fired by the station two years ago and one story mentioned how local police had to be called to escort Flanagan from the building.
That's just a small glimpse into the man. As a proud journalist for the last 18 years of my life -- and many more to come -- it saddens me to think that I may have to start looking over my shoulder a little more in the days ahead.
One incident shouldn't paint such a broad brush, but journalists, whether they work in print or broadcast, have to be out in the community often. Most people they come in contact with are warm and accepting.
But there's always one bad apple who makes an appearance when it's least expected. When it involves a gun, it certainly changes everything, and usually for the worse.
I am proud of what I do, my fellow fans of auto racing. Not everyone can write a 500- to 600-word game story on a tight deadline and have it make sense. Not everyone can put themselves in front of a camera and speak clearly on a topic in two minutes or less (usually), especially when it's done live.
Life is hard enough as it is without having to worry about who's lurking around the next corner with a gun and bad intentions.
Back in April, a CareerCast survey of 200 jobs listed newspaper reporter as the worst job of 2015. Broadcaster wasn't very much further up the ladder, coming in at No. 196. I've been on both sides of those careers and I firmly believe I'm in the best occupation around.
I have been around a lot of great stories in nearly two decades. I've covered everything from high-school football overtime classics, the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the MLB postseason (both in Oakland and San Francisco), and NASCAR, among many others.
No one with a gun can, or should, let the good feelings of great stories, and being able to tell them, get in the way.
We will return to your regularly scheduled news and views on auto racing next time.
Followers and comments welcome on Twitter @Tomzsports.