GLADSTONE, Mo. — When Janice Norton heard about the Navy Yard shooting Monday morning she said she was in shock. Surprised it happened and horrified it occurred in the building her son, Navy Captain Bernard Gately Jr., works in. Norton said for several hours Monday she tried to contact her son but couldn’t reach him by phone or text.
With every new report of a fatality or someone injured; Norton sat in her Gladstone home more than 1,000 miles away with her heart pounding. Norton said she couldn’t rest or settle her nerves because she didn’t know if her son was dead or alive.
“I’ve been a nurse for long time, I can hold my feelings in check pretty good, but that feeling of anxiety and dread just built up as the morning went on,” said Norton.
The family said they tried to call the numbers the government set up for families to call regarding their loved ones safety, but the phone was busy. Fortunately for the Norton family they received a text message hours after the shooting began saying Captain Gately Jr. was okay.
