Residents ‘suffering’ on Skye after fatal shooting which left three others badly injured

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A pastor says his community has suffered from "vicarious trauma" following a series of firearm incidents in the north west of Scotland.

Reverend Gordon Matheson, from the Sleat & Strath Free Church, gave evidence to MPs on the Scottish Affairs Committee on Monday as it began its inquiry into firearms licensing.

The inquiry comes two months after John MacKinnon, 47, was killed after a firearm was discharged on the Isle of Skye. A 39-year-old man was charged in connection with the alleged murder of Mr MacKinnon and the attempted murders of a 32-year-old woman, and a man and woman, both 63, in a series of shootings and a stabbing on the island and in Dornie, Wester Ross.

He told the committee that the events in August had caused the island's close-knit community to pick up "some of the trauma themselves". "There are multiple people struggling with what I think could be called legitimately as vicarious trauma, because we're such a close-knit community," he said."Everybody has a connection with these families, either through the school or through just work in the community.