Family, friends honor the 26 massacre victims of Sutherland Springs
Several weeks before the 2017 mass shooting at Sutherland Springs’ First Baptist Church, 16-year- old Haley Krueger arrived home from school and saw her mother’s boyfriend sitting on the couch.
She grabbed a Bible from her room, slammed it against Lance Gay’s chest and said, “You need Jesus!”
Three years later, Haley’s words are emblazoned in bright pink on teal T-shirts, her favorite colors. About 15 family members and friends who gathered at La Vernia City Park wore the shirts to commemorate the third anniversary of the massacre Thursday.
The words make Gay and Haley’s mother, Charlene Uhl, laugh for a moment through tears and somber silence as they remember Haley’s rambunctious spirit.
The group released 26 white and silver balloons, one for each victim of one of the deadliest shootings in recent history. They also let fly nine candlelit lanterns, one for each child killed.
The balloons read, “Forever in our hearts you’ll stay. We will love you and remember you every single day.”
On Nov. 5, 2017, a gunman at the church killed 26 people and wounded 20 others.
Haley was at the service that day, helping with a church breakfast.
“It’s day by day, sometimes second by second. It’s really hard,” Uhl said of
her continued healing. “I try and honor her the best that I can.”
Uhl has since formed a group called Haley’s Kids, which collects and distributes presents for children each year around Christmas.
Last year, they helped 85 children, she said.
The group has also assisted children in need of school supplies.
“If someone needs help, I try to help them,” Uhl said.
At Thursday’s gathering, there were no big speeches or rousing chants.
As the sun set on the breezy afternoon, the group shuffled toward the perfect spot to release their balloons. The sounds of an announcer prepping for a football game echoed as park- goers sat along picnic tables or jogged on the trail.
A group of first responders from Wilson County Emergency Services District 3 stood watch from a
distance near two ambulances as the family released the first set of balloons.
Gay, 43, broke into tears as he recalled the moment he shared with Haley, a former La Vernia High School student who loved children so much that she wanted to be a neonatal intensive care unit nurse when she grew up.
“She always wanted to make people smile,” Gay said.
“If (kids) were sad, she’d run through the house in her socks and slide along the board to make herself fall,” Uhl recalled. “That’s just the kind of person she was.”
Earlier Thursday, the bells of First Baptist rang 26 times at 11: 30 a.m., a performance that is now part of the church’s bylaws.
Uhl, who was at the church, said it was an emotional experience.
“We have to move forward and honor everyone we lost,” she said.