Family, unity, healing: Those were themes Sunday as a Washington state community shattered by a fatal school shooting looked for ways to recover. At a candlelight vigil Sunday night at Everett High School, 150 attendees remembered Zoe Galasso, killed in the attack Friday at Marysville Pilchuck High School, and hoped for the recovery of four wounded students.
Shaylee Chuckulnaskit and Gia Soriano, both 14, were in critical condition Sunday at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. Andrew Fryberg, 15, was in critical condition and Nate Hatch, 14, was in serious condition at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center. The gunman, freshman Jaylen Fryberg, 15, killed himself.
"This is an opportunity for us to heal together," Pastor Nik Baumgart of Grove church told the crowd. Participants sang “Amazing Grace” and wrote notes to deliver to Zoe’s family.
"Zoe was in my first-period class,” said Dave Bodach, a math teacher at the high school. “She was a super nice girl. It was a really nice way to start my day."
Hundreds attended an earlier town hall meeting in Marysville and some said their thoughts were shifting from tragedy to hope. "There is no anger anymore,” Marysville school district transportation worker Heidi Neuman said. “Everybody is coming together as a community."
Jaylen Fryberg was a member of a prominent family within the Tulalip Indian tribe. Tulalip member Eleanor Nielson said at a morning church service that he was very involved in tribal events, including an annual canoe journey. "It pulls at our heart strings,” she said. “He was a young up-and-coming leader."
