Tamera Mowry of The Real took to Instagram on Monday to post a happy birthday message to her son, but also to pay tribute to her niece, who was killed in the recent mass shooting in Thousand Oaks, California. Her niece, Alaina, was only 18 when she was killed, along with 12 others at the Borderline Bar & Grill. Mowry wrote on Instagram: "Happy 6th birthday Aden! Alaina was excited to come to your birthday party. But as you said buddy, ‘She lives in your heart now.’ We love you 💙"
The shooting came just two weeks after a similar tragedy at a Pittsburgh synagogue where 11 people where killed. The shootings have been just the most recent in a long series which have plagued America for years and which, as The New York Times reports, are hard to understand for much of the rest of the world. The Times compiled a series of comments from international readers who don't quite get the US's unwillingness to crack down on guns even after all these shootings. One of their readers in Seoul wrote: "I’m deeply sorry to say this. Gunning down civilians in broad daylight looks like a feature of American life." Another, from London, had this to say: "If you were someone living outside the U.S. who is following the news about a new gun massacre every other day, would you feel safe and assured to visit the U.S. as a tourist, or for business or study? What about allowing your child to travel there for study or holiday?"
The Thousand Oaks shooting was unique in that the shooter himself took to Instagram to question why it was so easy for him to do such a thing: "I hope people call me insane (two smiley face emojiis) would that just be a big ball of irony? Yeah... I'm insane, but the only thing you people do after these shootings is 'hopes and prayers'...or 'keep you in my thoughts'."