In the wake of a tragic shooting at its light rail operations building, which left nine employees plus the gunman dead, the agency implemented a mental health program to help the survivors move forward and begin the healing process. LIKE FAR TOO MANY COMMUNITIES AND CITIES across the nation, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in San Jose, Calif., was forever changed on May 26, 2021, after nine employees' lives were cut short by gun violence. The gunman, also a VTA employee, turned the gun on himself just as San Jose Police and Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputies rushed into the VTA light rail operations building. Nine victims that early Wednesday morning quickly turned into hundreds. More than one year later, mental health professionals continue to work with our walking wounded, some who are trying to return to some form of normalcy, others who have not yet been able to return to the job or workplace they once knew. The sad truth is that the shooting at the VTA light rail yard that day was one of 61 active shooter events in 2021. "That criminal's bullets harmed more than the innocent victims. Gun violence hurts innocent families and friends; it wounds innocent communities," says Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, who was on the scene that tragic day alongside the County's Victims Support Unit. In partnership with its four labor unions, the County's emergency and social services, and the mental health professional community, VTA was thrust into developing a mental health program to not only support its employees through recent traumatic events but one that is proving to be necessary to sustain over time.
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