At Shooters’, all of the incidents involved firearms, and four of them—including the latest shooting—involved people dealing with mental health issues.

Management at Shooters’ were given the opportunity to comment for this story, but did not. On its website, Shooters’ says it maintains a clean, safe, and comfortable indoor firearm and archery ranges open to the public 76 hours a week.

“They have been a good neighbor, a good business, and for the most part, have operated safely,” said Caledonia Village Administrator Tom Christensen, who served as a Racine police officer for 30 years and serves on the state board for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). “There have been some problems and they are problems that I am sure they don’t ever want to happen again.”

But the lure of available firearms and an opportunity to end their lives away from family and friends can be too potent a combination for people suffering some type of mental illness and experiencing suicidal thoughts, said Mike Boticki, executive director of NAMI Racine County.

“In many cases, a person planning to end his or her life wants to ensure friends or family members are not the ones to find them,” Boticki said. “Help needs to start before the gun range.”

Help available