Carthage is on the mend as the town and its residents try to deal with the horrific events of a week ago.

Police Cpl. Justin Garner heads the list of the mending. He is recovering from foot and leg wounds suffered as he fired the single bullet that stopped last Sunday morning's bloody rampage.

Garner shot the suspect, Richard Kenneth Stewart, who allegedly killed seven elderly patients and a nurse at Pinelake Health and Rehabilitation Center.

"He will recover completely," Police Chief Chris McKenzie said of Garner, who remains in seclusion as he recuperates both physically and emotionally from a confrontation that saved an unknown number of lives.

McKenzie was among the first of many to hail Garner as a hero. He detailed the process Garner will face before returning to duty.

"He will have to pass a fitness-for-duty test," McKenzie said. "That is no different from any officer, the same as the one we have with a broken foot. It is a physical test."

After that, there will be a psychological exam to be sure Garner isn't going to be impaired by any emotional scars. McKenzie has no doubts about his officer.

"He has been our Officer of the Year before," he said. "He even writes good reports."

Evaluations also are called for whenever an officer returns to work after extended leave of short-term disability, or has experienced medical, psychological, or behavioral job-related difficulties.

"It is policy, more precautionary than anything else," the chief said. "It's just smart to do it."

In the meantime, the police force itself and McKenzie are also on the mend. McKenzie is going over manpower and security issues raised by something unprecedented in the nation's history: a deadly attack on elderly patients in a nursing facility.

He said he is going over his available manpower and rethinking duty assignments.

"I have a lot of people to protect," he said.

One sign of the resilience of Carthage are the many white ribbon bows Sheree Kelly has put all over town. Her flower shop is on a corner a block from the old courthouse.

"It was just a feeling of wanting to do something," she said. "We are praying for all the families, and this was a way of letting them know we are all thinking of them. It was a small thing to do. I think this is a perfectly safe town. I don't know anywhere I'd rather be than right here in Carthage."

It is an idea that came to her as she was delivering floral orders out to Pinelake earlier this week. One of the first bows is on the entrance. Others are at Town Hall and at other places about town.

At First Baptist Church, Carthage Mayor Ronnie Fields opened the first of a series of Thursday-evening sessions this month to help residents and others cope with the tragedy. The church is making space available to the town for sessions with mental health professionals from Sandhills Mental Health, the county Department of Social Services, churches and other agencies.

Fields is not only mayor, he's also a deputy sheriff recently returned to the office of Moore County Sheriff Lane Carter after years as a state trooper.

Carthage is his home town, and he lives just around the corner and down the road from Pinelake Health and Rehabilitation Center, where the eight murders took place.

He was joined by Rick Martindale, minister at First Presbyterian Church, who led an opening prayer. The pastor of First Baptist was preparing for a medical test and could not be present. He asked Martindale to represent him.

Just a couple of residents came to the first session to avail themselves of this first opportunity. Among the officials present in addition to the mayor were state Rep. Jamie Boles, District Attorney Maureen Krueger and her investigator, Mike Kimbrell, Carthage Commissioner Artie Barber (and his wife), County Manager Cary McSwain, Assist-ant Manager Jeffery Parrott) and McKenzie, the man who has been at the center and forefront of the week's events.

Mark R. Marquez, a service management director with Sandhills Center for Mental Health, led a professional counseling team that was on hand and that passed out various supporting documents as the 90-minute session wore on.

He was in awe of the setting, which was in the sanctuary of First Baptist rather than the church hall, Marquez said. A special showing of a film tribute to Kay Yow, the late N.C. State women's basketball coach, had been previously scheduled.

Only a couple of Carthaginians present, but Marquez said that was neither the point nor very important.

"What is important is that these Thursdays are available, and will be available every week throughout April," Marquez said. "Every Thursday, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. we will be here. People can feel stronger, know there is support for them, even if they don't feel they need it."

That in and of itself can be part of the healing process.

Carthage is a resilient community, a strong community that has its own inner resources, Fields said. He quoted McKenzie as saying the town "is a small community based on faith, and faith will see us through."