HUNDREDS GATHER TO PRAY, MOURN
VIRGINIA BEACH — At first, the rain fell Saturday morning, drenching friends and strangers who gathered in a movie theater parking lot to remember those killed and injured the evening before.
As prayers were lifted up to God, the rain drops slowed. People put away their umbrellas. They grabbed hands and sang “Amazing Grace.”
By the end, the sun had come out from behind the clouds.
“It’s no coincidence,” said Robert Richardson, a Virginia Beach resident.
Richardson and his four kids joined several hundred others at a vigil organized by Lifehouse Virginia Beach Church, the first of many that are scheduled to happen in the coming days.
He brought his sons and daughter, who range in ages from 8 to 13, because he wanted them to see how hope survives even dark times.
“It’s a very sad day, but we’ll get through it,” Richardson said. “We’re resilient.”
Richardson’s family was joined by Gov. Ralph Northam, State Sen. Bill DeSteph, Del. Kelly Fowler and Virginia Beach City Council members Aaron Rouse and Sabrina Wooten.
The elected officials said they were trying to make sense of the senselessness, too. “These are the times that try people’s souls,” Northam said, quoting Thomas Paine, a Revolutionary War-era patriot.
Rouse was a student at Virginia Tech in 2007 when 32 students, faculty and staff were gunned down on the Blacksburg campus. He said he remembered feeling helpless then, “but we came together.” He said he’s confident that’s what will happen here.
Casey Shank, whose husband Brandon is a pastor at Lifehouse, said she was trying to see the light. With four kids herself, ranging from 2 to 8, she worries all the time about the possibility of a mass shooting at their schools. Without her faith, Shank said she didn’t know how she’d deal with the nervousness.
Friday, her fears were realized. Her mom works at the city’s Municipal Center in another building doing land assessments. When Shank heard the news about the shooting, she rushed to talk to her and make sure her mom was OK. Her mom was in the parking lot right as the shooting started.
“She’s pretty shaken up because she talks to those people all the time,” Shank said. “They’re close coworkers.”
Brandon Shank told the gathering he was trying to lean on Jesus’ words to his disciples before his death, when he told them not to let their hearts be troubled.
“Today, we can say we’re going to get through this,” he said, then referenced the hashtag that has popped up in the wake of the shooting. “People say VB strong, but we know what that means.” Sara Gregory, 757-222-5150, sara.gregory@ pilotonline.com