BILLINGS — More than a week after a deadly shooting and house fire killed eight members of a Billings family, the investigators and emergency crews are gone.
What remains is the burned home on White Star Circle, a growing neighborhood memorial, and the memories of what happened for the people who watched it unfold.
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For neighbors, the scene is a daily reminder of a tragedy that authorities say began with a family disturbance and was not a random attack.
Eight people, ranging in age from 7 to 92, died Aug. 23. The victims were Megan Ghekiere; her children, Chloe and Owen Ireland; her stepchildren, Landon and Charlotte Ghekiere; her parents, Barb and Dana Smith; and her 92-year-old grandmother, Evelyn Smith.
Police identified the suspect as 44-year-old Alan Michael Smith. Authorities said he was found outside the home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and later died.
Related: Eight lives, one blended family: Remembering the victims killed at Billings home
The loss has been felt throughout Billings. More than 1,000 people gathered at Veterans Park last Thursday to remember the eight victims.
“Probably most of those people felt connected to that family in that neighborhood in one way or another, so it hits close to home,” said Eric Arzubi, M.D., a board-certified psychiatrist and CEO of Frontier Psychiatry.
Arzubi lives less than two miles from where the shooting happened. He said the response from the community is understandable, particularly in a city where connections between people can run deep.
“Billings is like a big small town where people are kind of only one degree of separation from many other people,” Arzubi said.
Some neighbors declined to speak publicly about what they witnessed, but did describe the experience to MTN as traumatic and devastating.
For people living near White Star Circle, the aftermath is difficult to avoid. The burned home remains visible, and neighbors who watched the emergency response unfold now pass the same scene during their everyday routines.
That can make it difficult to simply move on, Arzubi said.
“There’s no great playbook around this,” he said.
Related: In grief, Billings families call for memories of lost loved ones to stay alive
Arzubi also said people also respond to traumatic events differently. For some, the shooting may bring back memories of previous trauma or loss. Others may experience distress despite having no direct connection to the victims.
“Some people are going to be more vulnerable than others,” Arzubi said.
Arzubi said one of the most important things people can do after a community tragedy is stay connected. That can mean checking on a neighbor, spending time with family or friends, attending a community gathering, or simply continuing to show up for one another.
Neighbors in the area have already begun doing that. One neighbor said another had brought cookies to the nearby homes in the days after the shooting. Others have checked on people living nearby.
Those small acts can matter, Arzubi said, particularly after the initial attention surrounding a tragedy fades.
“Remembering to continue to support and to help each other one month, three months, nine months, 12 months out is going to be important when it's no longer on the front pages,” he said.
While staying informed is important, Arzubi cautions against repeatedly watching or reading coverage of the shooting. Constant exposure can make it more difficult for people to process what happened, particularly when coverage includes repeated images or details of the tragedy.
“You don’t want to get oversaturated with the story,” he said. "The higher the dose of that the more difficult it is to process.”
That can be especially important for children. Arzubi recommends that parents first ask children what they already know and what they have heard before providing additional information.
“Ask them, ‘What do you know about it? What did you hear?’” he said.
Parents should be honest and direct, he said, while avoiding unnecessary details or overwhelming children with information.
The shooting also will affect children returning to school, where some students may see four empty desks this year. Arzubi said adults should try to maintain normal routines as much as possible, including going to school, participating in activities, eating regular meals, and maintaining consistent sleep schedules.
“You want to continue with the same routine and rhythm of life as much as possible,” he said.
Arzubi said professional help may be appropriate when feelings about the tragedy begin interfering with daily life, including difficulty getting out of bed, losing motivation, experiencing overwhelming anxiety or sadness, or seeing changes in sleep, appetite, or the ability to work.
If those problems persist for more than two weeks, Arzubi recommends talking with a health care or mental health professional.
Support may also be available before someone reaches that point. People experiencing emotional distress can call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. The Crisis Text Line can also be reached by texting HELLO to 741741.
The memorial near the neighborhood's mailboxes continues to grow. Flowers, notes, and other tributes offer a place for people to remember the family and for neighbors to acknowledge a loss that has changed their community.
Arzubi said healing will likely continue long after the memorials and headlines disappear. The way people support each other in the coming months could be just as important as the immediate response.
For the neighbors living on White Star Circle, that healing begins with continuing to look out for one another while living alongside the visible reminders of what happened.
