Vigil honors victims of Texas shooting
100 gather at state Capitol in wake of latest school attack
About 100 people gathered at the state Capitol Monday evening to honor the 10 people killed in a Friday morning shooting at a Houston-area high school.
March for Our Lives Arizona organized the event, which began at 7 p.m. with local faith leaders from both Christian and Muslim traditions greeting the crowd and saying that the faith community stood with members and supporters of the March for Our Lives movement.
The group also recognized iftar, the end to a daily fast observed by Muslims during the
holy month of Ramadan, in honor of the Pakistani student killed in the shooting who had been celebrating the holiday in the days before her death.
“They aren’t just a name on a piece of paper on a long, long list of people who have died (in school shootings),” Harb, a junior at Mountain View High School, said in a Sunday phone interview with
Sharon Zolondek attended Monday’s vigil and said that she supports the March for Our Lives movement because she has a daughter in high school who is fearful that the next mass shooting could affect her.
“As a parent, we want to protect our children,” she said. “Sadly, my generation, collectively I think, feels like we failed them in this regard and I’m just so proud that these kids are taking on these very important causes.”
Molly Jimmerson, a student at a high school in Anthem, said that she was personally affected by gun violence last year when she was held hostage by a man armed with a gun during her shift at a local restaurant.
Jimmerson said that she suffers from PTSD as a result of the incident, and is concerned that the gun violence she experienced could present itself at school. She said her school does not have police officers, only a gate that she worries could be easily breached.
“It’s terrifying, honestly,” Jimmerson said. “We’ll have lockdown drills and we’re like ‘Is it real? What are we going to do if it’s real?’”
Jimmerson said that she and her fellow students often have “mixed emotions” about proposed measures that attempt to stop mass school shootings.
“After all of these shootings and just after this horribleness, like what are we supposed to do? How are we supposed to feel?” Jimmerson said. “Should we feel like sure, more guns and more safety will keep us safer or should we feel like ‘push them (guns) away, keep them all away’?”
Jamie Horowitz is preparing to graduate from Pinnacle High School and found out about the Santa Fe High School shooting during her first period class on her last day of high school.
“It was just some sick, twisted irony,” Horowitz said. “This has been my whole life and it’s like, of course on my last day of high school this is what’s happening. My heart was breaking.”
She said her generation is passionate about the cause because they have grown up with regular mass shootings and are now in a position to create change.
“The kids that grew up with this are growing up,” Horowitz said. “They’re 17, 18, they’re in high school. They have a voice and they know how to use it now.”
She hopes that the momentum for the movement will ensure that the next generation will not grow up with the same fear.
“This has been my whole life,” Horowitz said. “This is what I’ve grown up with. This is everything that I’ve experienced and it’s something I can’t imagine anybody else going through but someday my kids someday having to have active shooter drills and having to fear for your life when you’re going to school.”
The vigil began with local faith leaders from both Christian and Muslim traditions greeting the crowd and saying that the faith community stood with members and supporters of the March for Our Lives movement.
High-school students from around the state took turns talking about a particular victim of the Texas shooting, describing their life aspirations, memorable quirks and what they were doing at the time of the shooting in an effort to humanize those lost.
Franco Mocerino attended the vigil despite not having children.
“I’m a nobody, but maybe the word will get out and maybe it’ll spark somebody who’s got the power and the authority to do something,” he said.
He said that he believes schools should have metal detectors and hire veterans for security.