Community comes together for vigil to remember victims of Texas shooting

LONGMEADOW, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) -Local communities continue to grieve with Texas in the wake of the deadly elementary school shooting on Tuesday. Friday night, a vigil was held in Longmeadow to remember those who were killed.

The vigil was small but impactful. Western Mass News caught up with the organizer who told us she felt it was important to do something to address the gun violence issue in our country and to remember those whose families are mourning after the deadly attack.

One minute of silence, to remember the 21 lives lost in a school shooting on Tuesday.

“If you think one moment of silence is a long time, think about how long those kids waited for somebody to come in and protect them,” said vigil organizer Dianne Boland.

Boland of Longmeadow organized a vigil at the Longmeadow Town Green Friday night, to honor the young children and two educators whose lives were taken too soon.

“We have been coping with these tragedies since Sandy Hook and each one is as tragic as the next. And we shouldn’t even be talking about the next,” said Boland.

And she’s calling on leaders to do something about gun violence now.

“Where are our senators and our congressmen?” explained Boland.

Isabella is a fifth-grader. She told Western Mass News she came out to the vigil because she thinks it’s important to support those grieving in Texas.

“It made me really sad, and I had a conversation about it with my parents because I think that it was unfair because kids are people too and teachers also have families,” said Isabella.

Boland said the vigil was a good start, but she’s looking toward the future.

“I have a lot of hopes. I’m just hoping that people will vote and people will come together as communities to protect our children, our teachers, and our schools,” said Boland.

A separate vigil, set to be held at Holyoke High School Friday night was postponed until Sunday due to the weather.