I live in beautiful Lafayette, LA, what's known as "The Hub City," the heart of "Cajun Country."

We don't ride alligators to work or eat snakes and live in swamps as Adam Sandler and Swamp People would have you believe. Nor do we have the "redneck" accents that belong to the Duck Dynasty folk, who live in northern LA. Lafayette is a beautiful city, filled with a unique culture that blends cultures from around the world but which has its roots in French and European culture.

Our people aren't just friendly here, we go out of our way to help others, even strangers, and are known for our hospitality and love of life, which not only includes great food and festivals, but also the arts and humanities.

Lafayette was named "Happiest City in the US" last year, which surprised everyone but those of us who live here.

I mention all of this because the pride we have in our home blinded us to the reality that we are not immune from the senseless violence that has so deeply affected Aurora, Co and other places. Earlier tonight, a gunman opened fire in one of the auditoriums at The Grand 16 and shot eight people before turning the gun on himself. One victim has died and 7 others are being treated in area hospitals. Police and hazmat crews are working to clear the theater complex and a nearby apartment complex of suspected explosive devices.

I mention this here because I needed an outlet and because this theater is special to me. Without fail, I show up hours in advance of the premiere showing of big superhero and genre films. Myself and two of my dear friends attended the Ant-Man premiere last week at this very theater. We're in shock that this has happened here and that, had the whims of the gunman been different, we might have been injured or killed ourselves.

No motives or further details or known at this time, but we are a community in shock. News has already spread throughout various media, and I know that our part of the country/world is often misunderstood and mocked for various reasons. I thought that sharing this tonight might help to put a face, albeit a digital one, on Lafayette, LA, a proud and wonderful Southern town in the heart of Cajun Country.

Thank you for reading and if you are the praying kind, please offer some for those who died and were injured tonight, as well as their loved ones. Also please pray for the gunman, who was clearly plagued by an inner darkness so unknowable to anyone else that it finally spilled out and swallowed up the lives and well-being of others.

-Chris