It doesn’t do a lot of good to place blame or to find a scapegoat when anyone loses their life at the hands of another human being  — especially when the facts are still being gathered and questions are being answered.

There’s lots of unknowns about what happened that Saturday when Dyzhawn Perkins — a 19-year-old high school senior — was shot by Buckingham County sheriff’s deputies.

We know what police have told us, and at this point, that’s what we have to go by. Virginia State Police — the agency investigating the matter — has said that he attacked two people inside a store on Route 20, then attacked an elderly couple and then attacked a sheriff’s deputy.

Sheriff William G. “Billy” Kidd Jr. said Perkins was on top of the deputy, attempting to get his gun, when he was shot.

That’s what authorities have said. And we should trust them on their word.

While the shooting of Perkins has been a tragedy for the whole Buckingham community, it’s affected the family of Dyzhawn and the two sheriff’s deputies more than us. We should be in prayer for Perkins’ family and the deputies every day.

We should trust that state police will investigate this tragedy to the fullest extent. There’s an objective process that law enforcement officials are following — one that will produce more facts about what happened to Perkins, why he was shot and why the deputies felt threatened.

Until then, and after that, the best thing that each of us can do is pray for peace, strength and forgiveness and understanding in the hearts of this entire community and, more important, those involved in the incidents and investigation.

In a press release, Kidd asked for the community “to be patient with the process and await the commonwealth’s attorney’s final ruling in the matter.”

Be patient and let the legal process take place. But, more important than that, let the healing process take place.

Jordan Miles is the managing editor of The Farmville Herald. His email address is jordan.miles@farmvilleherald.com.