A hole--the cause of, the existence of

Today is a sad day. There are no appropriate images that I can find, though I'm using my soon-to-be-spouse's computer, and I can't seem to navigate through the folders well enough to find anything.
There was a shooting here--one that rocked the city because it required the entire north-west commuter rail system to be shut down for several hours. It also rocked our world because the victim was somebody that we knew. Maybe that says something about the city...that we haven't lived here all that long, and we are now networked fairly directly into a shocking, criminal act of anger and hate. Something totally sensless, and I suppose we'll never have all the answers, since the police fatally shot the gunman, who had taken hostages in the law office on the 38th floor.
I now recall the way the tragedy of the Amish school killing was handled by the community...the parents of the children whose lives were changed or taken during the attack embraced the family of the killer, and demonstrated great concern about how this family would manage in the absence of a father. I wonder how it is that these people have the capacity to forgive...is it a spiritual thing? A simple human compassion for others that we all possess, but do not actively cultivate? What would inspire people touched by this Chicago tragedy to forgive as selflessly and completely as this Amish community? I am struggling with how I feel about this incident...and I am embracing the struggle, since I am somewhat removed from the situation emotionally, knowing the victim's wife and not the victim himself. This is a good thing--one of the two of us has to be a rock at times like this.
Know that we are thinking of you and your son, and that we grieve with you...