What ensued was a full-scale manhunt inside the neighborhood, where residents were asked to shelter in place while police armed with heavy guns searched backyards and asked for any camera footage.

While the search for the gunman continued into Thursday beyond the scope of the neighborhood, residents were left to make sense of the killing at the university behind their homes and the manhunt on their properties.

“It’s Orem, Utah. Stuff like this doesn’t happen here,” Robin Harris said. “It just feels like a little bubble of happiness. But last night the bubble burst, and it was kind of like, ‘Oh, we actually do live in the real world.'”

For many residents, the initial shock was they had relatives who were at the event Kirk was shot. Neighbor Christy Luque said her son and daughter-in-law were there, and when they heard the shot they ran home — possibly taking the same route as the shooter.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

“It appears that the shooter may also have come through the same neighborhood,” Luque said. “So scary to think what would have happened if they’d run into him.”

Harris’ nephew, Isaac, a UVU student, was also on campus for Kirk’s rally. He returned to his aunt’s house and was telling what had happened when Harris saw strangers step onto the property.

“We kind of knew that what we heard — that they had caught the shooter already — was not true,” she said. “He was still at large. And so then I saw people walking through my backyard, and it scared me so bad.”

Harris quickly realized they were authorities, and from there, police officers didn’t stop coming. Multiple officers scanned her yard, treehouse and storage shed throughout the afternoon, and knocked on her door six to seven times to ask for information, Harris said.

“They had big guns, and it was kind of scary,” she said. “But it was also nice to know that they were here.”

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

A shelter in place was ordered while a pair of helicopters flew overhead and police dogs walked the streets.

The lockdown turned into an issue for 16-year-old cousins Max and Colston Fitch when they tried to leave for their evening football practice at Mountain View.

“We were still locked down, and we tried to go out, but there’s just a SWAT truck in front of the neighborhood’s entrance,” Max Fitch said. “It was like, ‘Well, this is starting to get real.’ It was really scary. It was really sad, of course. But it was crazy.”

By Thursday, the large police presence in the neighborhood was replaced by several planted flags, which were set up to commemorate 9/11.

Several authorities remained behind their homes, though, near Campus Drive and 800 West, and many residents heard the murder weapon was found in a backyard. The Utah Department of Public Safety said it was found in a nearby wooded area.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

A mixture of sadness and trauma appeared to be felt by all.

Max said he was a fan of Kirk and watched his videos, and was distraught that a father of two kids was killed. Colston couldn’t believe how close the gunman came to where he lived.

“We could have been doing what we’re doing right now here, playing basketball, as (the gunman) walked right past us,” he said. “So we could have been outside when it happened. So that was definitely scary.”

The duo did not go to school Thursday, choosing to be with their families, and said all their friends did the same.

“I’ve heard it’s a ghost town over there,” Colston said.

Orem City is the self-proclaimed “Family U.S.A.,” and people grappled with the idea that something so shocking could occur in their hometown.

“This is a very safe neighborhood, a quiet neighborhood,” Luque said. “Of course, we have UVU traffic, and I’ve had my own children attend UVU, graduate from there, one’s there now. So it’s an awesome place to live. It has always felt safe. And you think of these things happening in big cities, you know? I think New York, L.A., Chicago, not little Orem.”

Luque wonders how the community, and nation, will respond to the assassination.

“It is interesting that that happened the day before 9/11 when so many people did come together at a time that was so scary,” Luque said. “I wish we could pull together like that, but unfortunately, it seems like people are just more and more divided, which is terrible. We need to come together.”

Max Fitch had similar advice.

“Even if you don’t agree with the person next to you — Colston and I disagree on several things, and we’re cousins — you can still come to terms with that,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’re all one. We all just have to come together and love one another.”