ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Tuesday marks one week since the Elementary school shooting in Uvalde. And as families and friends gather for the funerals and burials in Texas, the community came together Tuesday evening in St. Johns County to remember those who lost their lives.
A vigil was held in Nocatee, where people also paid tribute to those who were killed in a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York. They wanted a space to talk about the tragic events and to take a moment of silence.
Marcia Quinones was one of many who showed up to the vigil at Davis Park. Quinones said the shooting in Texas hit close to home for her because she has a daughter in the fourth grade.
“To hear it happened in a fourth grade classroom and have to explain to my daughter what happened,” Quinones said. “Families shouldn’t have to explain to their 10-year-old kid or any age children what happened.”
Quinones wore the color orange for gun violence awareness.
“We wanted to use the orange to represent, we’re not trying to ban guns, we’re trying to bring awareness,” she said.
Sophie Burger is a fourth grader, and she says the violence has had an impact on her.
“I want to cry I get so upset,” Sophie said. “It really scares me how bad people decide to go buy a gun and kill people that aren’t doing anything.”
Aaron Burger, one of the organizers of the event, says these shootings have impacted him immensely, and he wants to bring awareness to how these mass killings need to end.
“The fact that we live in community that’s so tight knit — the way Nocatee is, we want to bring awareness to it — it can literally happen anywhere,” he said. “This isn’t a political issue at all. This isn’t a political event. We’re just here to mourn the lives lost.”
Burger read the names of every person who died in the shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde.
Candles were lit in memory of all of the lives lost.
A mental health expert also spoke at the vigil. Carissa Brede is the clinical director at the Youth Crisis Center.
“Kids hear things and feel certain ways about it. They’re anxious, depressed or not sure how to feel. So that’s where our professionals come in to,” Brede said.
“If a child is feeling isolated or not interested in things they used to, or even if they’re actually expressing ‘I’m not doing well’ or they’re feeling anxious or depressed — those are some signs they need to talk to somebody,” she added.
Texas investigators on Tuesday were working to determine why an exterior door at Robb Elementary School did not lock when it was closed before the gunman used it to get inside and kill 19 students and two teachers.
Investigators initially said a teacher propped the door open before 18-year-old Salvador Ramos entered the school in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24. Travis Considine, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said Tuesday that investigators have determined the teacher propped the door open with a rock but removed it and closed the door when she realized a shooter was on campus. But the door did not lock.
The teacher has not been identified.