‘It’s really devastating what happened’
Vigil held at Calumet New Tech High School honors victims in Texas school shooting
Those gathered stood quietly, some with their heads down, as Maria Trajkovich read the names of the 19 children and two teachers fatally shot at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
As Trajkovich, a member of the Lake Ridge Educational Foundation, read each name, Bailey and
Chloe Patrick, 17-year-old twins and students at the school, hung a photo of the victim on a piece of yarn with a clothing pin.
“After reading the names, I got chills. They won’t feel that, the chill, the unity,” Trajkovich said.
On a chilly Wednesday night, the Lake Ridge Educational Foundation held a vigil outside the athletic field at Calumet New Tech High School to honor the victims of the
Texas school shooting. After the victims’ names were read out and their photos hung up, the group listened to “We Are the World,” which brought some people to tears.
The foundation sold T-shirts that read “Indiana United for Uvalde,” and the proceeds will go toward supporting the families, said Jeanny Sopiarz, a member of the foundation.
“It’s really devastating what happened. Whatever we can do, however small, we just want to help,” Sopiarz said.
Bailey Patrick said she was thinking of the families who lost their loved ones as she hung up the pictures. Chloe Patrick said it was emotional to see how many people were killed as she handed the photos to her sister.
Their mom, Mary Patrick, said she came to the vigil with her daughters to show support for the Uvalde community. She said she worries about her daughters at school and if they would know what to do in the event of an active
shooter.
“It’s sad that you have to think like that,” Mary Patrick said.
It’s difficult to think about the pain the parents who lost their children are feeling, Trajkovich said, as she considered scenarios of a parent telling their child to have a good day at school drop off or a parent who maybe lost their temper during the rush for school and never seeing their children again.
“They woke up and brushed their teeth, got their lunches and went to school just to get killed,” Trajkovich said.
Trajkovich, a Lake County police officer, said everyone has to heighten their awareness and “pay better attention” to what is causing children harm. The U.S. has to address mental health and gun safety measures, she said.
Guns should have a similar registration-type record that vehicles have, Trajkovich said, that lists the gun’s serial number, the owner’s name, if the owner has gone to gun safety classes and if the owner passed a mental health check.
When Indiana’s permitless carry law goes into effect July 1, Trajkovich said police officers’ jobs will get harder because they won’t be able to check for gun permits when stopping someone for a crime and the officer sees a gun.
“This is just going to cause more problems,” Trajkovich said. “People are spooked. People see a gun and they’re spooked. What is their reaction going to be now?”
But, Mary Patrick said that tougher gun laws won’t stop mass shootings.
“Evil is going to get access to do evil regardless of gun laws,” Mary Patrick said.
Sopiarz, who has four children in the district, said reading about the school shooting was devastating, but, for her, it also brought back the pain of the death of one of her children.
“I know what it means to lose a child,” Sopiarz said. “These poor parents. These poor moms.”
Sopiarz said the schools in the district are safe because every visitor has to show I.D. and then be buzzed into the building. Whenever something happens at one of the schools, parents get notified through phone calls and text messages, she said.
“Our schools are as safe as can be,” Sopiarz said. “I don’t feel we can be safer without letting our kids be kids.”
Sopiarz said she taught her fifth grade son to keep his cellphone in his pocket and to stay put during an emergency. For all her children, Sopiarz said she has told them to call her if they ever feel uneasy in any situation.
“I’m very open with my kids about (school shootings). I want them to understand the severity, but not be scared,” Sopiarz said.
“Evil is going to get access to do evil regardless of gun laws.”
— Mary Patrick