Texas mall erects mass shooting memorial sculpture
Not long after sunrise Monday, the outlet mall still mostly empty, a steel sculpture appeared with little fanfare or ceremony.
The artwork – a memowill rial to those killed in the mass shooting here one year ago – is set on a bed of rocks surrounded by seasonal plants. Curving pieces of steel resemble wings, reaching toward the sky.
A temporary nameplate reads “Always Remembered. May 6, 2023,” and soon be replaced by a permanent bronze plaque. At the top, eight heavy wind chimes sway in the breeze, each representing a life lost:
Cindy Cho. James Cho. Kyu Cho. Elio CumanaRivas. Christian LaCour. Daniela Mendoza. Sofia Mendoza. Aishwarya
Thatikonda.
Nebraska-based artist Matthew Placzek said in a statement the memorial “is a vessel for quiet reflection.” The chimes’ “soft tones will serve as a serene and contemplative reminder of the lives that endure through the memories of loved ones and the Allen community.”
The memorial is at the northwest corner of the mall. Nearby are flagpoles and tables for community seating.
Seven others were wounded in the shooting on a busy Saturday afternoon, and hundreds of shoppers and store employees were traumatized. A police officer on a nearby call killed the gunman, who wielded an AR-15, within five minutes after the first shots were fired.
Amid an epidemic of gun violence, mass shooting memorials like the one in Allen have become a fixture in the U.S.
Some open only months later, as is the case of the shooting at an El Paso Walmart in 2019. Others, such as at Sandy Hook Elementary, open years later. No playbook exists, and each community responds differently.
In Uvalde, artists painted giant murals downtown of the 19 students and two teachers killed in the 2022 Robb Elementary shooting, and community members are considering adding a permanent memorial downtown.
At First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, where a gunman killed more than two dozen people in 2017, artists and contractors transformed the building into a chilling memorial with 26 white chairs – including one for the unborn baby of a pregnant victim – bearing each victim’s name painted in gold. Church members voted in 2021 to demolish the building due to structural issues and build a memorial in its place.
After a gunman killed 23 people and wounded 22 at a Walmart in El Paso, the store’s headquarters asked SWA Group, a global architecture firm with an office in Dallas, to design a memorial to honor the victims, many of whom were store employees.
Architects Gerdo Aquino, the company’s coCEO, and Ying-yu Hung, a managing principal, arrived in El Paso to find thousands of mementos – cards, photographs and candles – scattered for blocks. They would need to transform that outpouring of devastation into a singular monument.
After consulting with store employees, the Los Angeles-based architects designed the Grand Candela, a 30-foot tower with columns of perforated metal, one for each life lost. During the day, the gold metal shimmers in the sunlight. At night, interior lights make it glow like a candle. The tower, which can be seen on both sides of the U.S.Mexico border, opened just three months after the shooting.
When it was unveiled, Hung recalled watching people gently touch the metal, as if connecting with their loved ones.
“This was a way to take some of the weight off,” Aquino said. “It gave people a place to go.”