Can places be cursed?

I do not presume to know the spiritual mechanism for this but it seems there are places, as well as some unfortunate families, that seem to have a dark spiritual cloud hanging over them. They seem to draw weird and dark spiritual influences to them. Unfortunate events usually ensue.

I was thinking about one such place this past week. It is on a block up on the main road by my house. There usually seems to be some weird person or other hanging around it. I first thought there must be a bus stop there but now I looked and there is not. Also right there is a building which used to house a very successful restaurant that was part of a large chain.

They did quite a good business but one day they closed down. The owner of the franchise had died and the family would have had to do too much modernizing to bring the place in line with what the Corporate office wanted. However, just preceding this, a woman manager working there had been engaged in an illicit affair with a younger, somewhat mentally challenged employee. He ended up murdering her.

The place lay vacant for some time before another party took over and opened as a seafood restaurant. They did not do well and had to close. A third business went in there, opened for a few days and then closed. Turns out they were not compliant with fire code issues. After several months, this same business opened again.

Now at this point, early last week, I was pondering this whole thing. Years ago, when I moved to this area, a fellow Christian told me that there is a huge occult presence here, with many engaged in those activities. He said that these people believe that there is a portal here for the spirit world; a door through which spirits enter and leave our earthly plane. I jokingly told my husband that I think I know where it is.

Friday morning we woke up to the news that there had been a gun battle during the night in the parking lot of the ill-fated establishment, with six injured and one dead. When the police arrived, the shooting was still going on, and many people fled, some of which the police think may have also been injured. The gunman or men are still at large.

I suppose it is probably best just to pray for peace and for God's protection over evil forces and leave the details to Him. We face many evils every day, and I pray that we may all walk in His light and be his agents for peace.