Chicagoans Wonder: Is Any Place Safe?
(CBS) -- They've happened at schools, churches, military bases and now, a nightclub.
Mass shootings in America have become so horribly frequent some are wondering: Is any place safe?
CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports on how the tragedies affect our sense of security.
As kids splash away in Oak Park, their parents' minds are on Orlando.
"I've definitely been worried that something else is going to happen now. I don't want to go to big public places," Olivia McDermott says.
In the wake of terror, the experts tell us, live your lives. Don't cower in fear.
That may be far easier said than done.
"I was scared about it. I thought, 'I don't want to go out and (have) that happen to me,'" Forest Park resident Kelly Sullivan says.
Whether playing at a suburban park or sunbathing at a city plaza, any gathering spot can be target.
"I got to go to work. I can't be stressing over what might happen, what could happen. Anything can happen," Loop worker Ryan Hernandez says.
But moving forward can leave our sensitivity behind. People can become numb to all of the violence, says Dr. Sheela Raja, psychologist. One answer, she says, is to mobilize around violence prevention.
"If we can become activists, it actually helps us psychologically, too, to feel like we're doing something," she says.
Back at that splash pool, Ebonie Washington worries about Chicago's terrible streets -- not so much about terrorism.
While the loss of one life is one too many, her point is worth noting: The fear of terrorism far exceeds its actual toll on Americans.
In Chicago this year alone, 278 have already been murdered -- five times more than the number who perished in the Orlando attack.
