After a gunman wrought unspeakable horror at an Aurora movie theater last week, many questions arose from the darkness. Among them:

What motivated the shooting suspect?

Is it too easy for Americans to get assault weapons?

Do violent movies and video games play a role in creating such a monster?

Why were so many lives senselessly taken?

Why here, why again?

Even before July 20, Colorado was having a rough go of it. Tornadoes, wildfires and drought have wreaked devastation on parts of the state. Many are still searching for answers after those disasters.

But perhaps nothing can test the faith of a community, a state or a nation the way a human being purposely inflicting devastation can. This was a man bent on murder, intent not only on killing those in that theater, but on spreading terror.

For many in the Denver metro area, the murders of last week literally hit too close to home. The Columbine murders, in which 13 people were killed, was just 13 years ago. Columbine High School is roughly a 30-minute drive from the Century 16 theater in Aurora, where a dozen lives were snuffed out and dozens more imperiled. Many of the theater casualties, as with the Columbine victims, were just beginning their lives.

Myriad questions arose after Columbine, too. Many were the same ones we are asking ourselves now. Eventually, changes emerged, if not truly answers to “why.”

Emergency response improved throughout Colorado and the country after Columbine. By most accounts, first responders were heroically fast in reacting to the July 20 shootings. Like 9/11, two years after Columbine, the school shootings helped prepare us for the worst mankind has to offer.

But preparation is different from prevention. Evil, it seems, will find a way to make itself known.

So as the “why” lingers, it is important to take heart in the glimpses of good that have emerged in this latest tragedy. The heroic officers and movie patrons who hustled to save lives. The outpouring of emotional and spiritual support. The overflowing inquiries to help in some way. Bonfils Blood Center, for example, had to cancel walk-in donations after being overwhelmed with appointments.

What can you do?

• Donate to a charity supporting the victims and their families. GivingFirst.org is one website that can help point you in the right direction.

• Donate blood, when appointments open up, to help replenish supplies.

• Talk to your family and friends. The Arapahoe/Douglas Mental Health Network emphasizes the importance, particularly for young people, of making personal connections in the wake of tragedy.

• Take care of yourself and others.

The coming weeks offer time to pursue insight into a killer’s wrath. Colorado is wounded. For now, we believe the answer is to begin healing.