CHESAPEAKE, Va. - This December will mark five years since Shana Turner's son, Shaq Turner, was shot and killed coming from work in Virginia Beach to pick up his fiancée.
“You put on your Superwoman cape, you move forward, but people don’t know that you’re suffering,” Turner said. “Me moving around was more helpful for me than being stagnant, and there’s a lot of sleepless nights still.”
Ahead of that anniversary, she told News 3 the aftermath of last week's mass shooting at a Chesapeake Walmart has been hard.
“It just reminded me of my late son. He was at work and leaving work,” Turner said. “You’re afraid to go into a store. You’re looking around you. PTSD is real.”
But through it all, she has stepped up through her group, Hampton Roads M.A.S.K. (Mothers Against Senseless Killings). The group was created after Shaq’s death and provides support to families like hers, being the voice of lives lost, and families left behind.
“People truly don’t understand. They expect you to get over it and just be done, even afterward, but they don’t understand that you can’t sleep at night,” Turner said. “They’re going to have a lot of sleepless nights, because that was their loved one.”
Turner has spent the last eight days contacting first responders and attending a prayer vigil for the six killed in the Walmart shooting and their families to offer support anywhere she can.
“We know we all have to expire, but when you lose a loved one that you’re expecting to come home… it’s very hard to accept and process all of that,” she said.
As her door is open to help victims' families, she also has advice for those walking a similar path as she did.
She emphasizes self-care and therapy.
“Make sure you keep the right people in your circle that are very supportive of you. If they’re not, remove them,” Turner said. “Just take it day by day, continue to process, and love on your loved ones.”
Turner also mentioned she's available to help families with other things, such as life insurance and funeral arrangements.
READ: Chesapeake Strong: How you can help victims' families of the Chesapeake Walmart mass shooting
To contact HR M.A.S.K., email shana@hrmask.org.
