'This isn't who Crete is': Nebraska town continues to recover from June shooting that injured 7

CRETE — Crestline Drive in Crete is a quiet, residential street that dead ends behind the town's intermediate school, where, on a cloudy afternoon in early September, the sounds of students playing at recess wafted toward the homes.

But signs of the violence that erupted here on June 28 also remain: cracks and holes from shotgun blasts on one house's windows; a house across the street has a boarded-up doorway and small shards of glass litter the roadway.

In late June, chaos erupted in the neighborhood when 74-year-old Bill Booth shot and injured seven members of a family of Guatemalan immigrants who lived across the street. The victims ranged in age from 3 to 43.

Booth was found dead in his home from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after shooting at the family with a shotgun from a window of his home, police said.

Daniel and Obed Mendieta, who live nearby, said the neighborhood has been quiet since the shooting. Booth's home sits empty, though someone comes once in a while to mow the lawn.

Another neighbor, Saline County Clerk Diann Nettifee, said things feel like they're back to normal. With school starting, Crestline Drive has once again become a route for students walking to school.

'One-time, very

strange situation'The shooting remains under investigation and the Nebraska State Patrol has yet to determine if the shooting will be classified as a hate crime, according to a Nebraska State Patrol spokesperson.

Crete Police Chief Gary Young said during a June press conference police had received a complaint from the victims' family that Booth had previously flipped them off, told them to go back to where they came from and "speak English."

Elsa R. Aranda, president of the Nebraska League of United Latin American Citizens, said she thinks classifying the shooting as a hate crime is essential to providing justice for the victims and questioned why the determination has not been made yet.

"I think that it's time for the state patrol to tell the community what they're doing," she said.

While the four children who were injured in the shooting have returned to school, the three adults who were injured remain in recovery and unable to work, according to Aranda. LULAC recently partnered with the Latino Peace Officers Association to provide food and support to the family.

"They're going to have to live with this for a long time," Aranda said.

Crete Public Schools also jumped in to help following the shooting by opening its Cardinal Welcome Center to anyone in the community needing counseling or mental health services, Superintendent Josh McDowell said. Individuals, city and county officials and the Crete Police Department also worked to help, McDowell said.

"It was multiple organizations that stepped up again to say ... this isn't who Crete is," he said. "Then we're going to come together to wrap our arms around these families and this community."

McDowell said he thinks the return of the school year has brought a sense of normalcy for the children affected by the shooting and the community as a whole.

"Our staff was more than ready and prepared to continue to offer support," he said. "To be a part of creating that new normal for those victims."

Crete Mayor Dave Bauer, who owns Bauer Insurance on Crete's Main Avenue, said he helped the victims' family deal with property damage following the shooting.

Bauer said he hasn't had many people asking him about the shooting recently and echoed what many residents had to say: Booth's actions don't reflect those of the community at large.

"I think the community has accepted it as it being a one-time, very strange situation," Bauer said.

A diverse, growing community Crete offers a sense of community that comes with being a small town, while being close enough to Lincoln to allow access to bigger city amenities, said Bauer, a lifelong resident of the town.

Crete is a mostly blue-collar community. Major employers include Bunge Milling, Nestle Purina, Smithfield Foods and Crete Core Ingredients. Some of the adult victims of the shooting worked at Smithfield.

Crete reported 7,099 residents in the 2020 census, though recent estimates are closer to 7,500. The town had around 6,900 residents in 2010 and 6,100 in 2000.

Though not as high as Schuyler or Lexington, Crete has one of the highest percentages of Hispanic or Latino residents in Nebraska. The town's Hispanic and Latino population grew from 36% in 2010 to 49% in 2020, according to census data.

Bauer said the town looks a lot different from when he was growing up, but he thinks the change has been necessary for the town's growth.

"If the Hispanic population wasn't here, we'd have a lot of empty jobs," he said. "We are fortunate to have a lot of industry here, and we need as many people as we can to fill those positions."

McDowell said enrollment in Crete Public Schools is up 12% in the last five years, which he attributes to Crete being a welcoming place.

"Once families get to Crete and they feel welcome, and their kids get to Crete Public Schools, and they feel welcome, they don't want to leave," he said. "And I think that's awesome."

Gabriel Garcia, a 30-year-resident of Crete who identifies as Mexican, said he's watched as the town's Hispanic and Latino population has grown over the years to include immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Cuba.

Garcia said immigrants from different countries generally get along just fine, as they do with their white neighbors.

"No matter what race you are or anything, we get along," he said.

Though he was not in town when the shooting happened, it was scary to hear about, Jorge Chanchavac, owner of Antojitos Guatemaltecos restaurant and Novedades La Princesa store on Crete's Main Street said.

However, Chanchavac, who is originally from Guatemala, said Crete still feels like home to him.

"Crete is a safe place," he said. "I think it's a safe place for us."