Southern Colorado ties to Paris attacks

The attacks that happened in Paris have hit close to home for several southern Colorado residents.

20-year-old Miranda Dunn was raised in Colorado Springs. She’s currently studying abroad at Saint Louis University in Madrid, Spain, but was in Paris for the weekend with friends when the attacks happened.

“It was really kinda overwhelming. We first thought it was a shooting and we’re like, ‘OK we need to get somewhere safe,’ and then we kept getting more alerts, and once we got back to our apartment we saw it was a terrorist attack,” said Dunn.

The apartment she’s staying in is just a few miles away from the soccer stadium where one of the attacks happened.

“It makes me so sad all the things that are happening and it’s just what are the odds we would be here during something like this?,” said Dunn.

Dunn and her friends are OK and waiting for a flight back to Spain.

“The security is a lot tighter, but we don’t know what that means for us traveling out of the country,” said Dunn.

One restaurant in Colorado Springs, Marigold Cafe & Bakery is also feeling the effect.

“A lot of people have called and came in and are sad and in just disbelief,” said Elaine Chavanon, owner of Marigold Cafe & Bakery.

The restaurant is known for more than their french food. It is a family run business with family ties in Europe.

“It’s scary, a lot of my family lives in France, my cousin is two minutes away from where it happened,” said Sophie Chavanon, manager at Marigold Cafe & Bakery.

Thankfully, their family is OK but they say they cope for the victims and the place they consider a home away from home.

“It was just like 9/11 happened all over, it was horrible,” said Elaine Chavanon.