'Love will prevail over what happened today:' Community mourns lives taken in school shooting
Tiny candles flickered in the tear-streaked faces of hundreds of Winder residents Wednesday evening as they offered prayers for the four lives lost and a community forever changed hours earlier by 14-year-old with a gun.
Students, parents and residents of all ages gathered at Jug Tavern Park just six miles from Apalachee High School to grieve together, to embrace and to search for comfort that felt achingly out of reach.
Many of those who attended the vigil came looking to relieve their horror and heartbreak, and share the emotional weight of the incident with their neighbors.
Tina Sorrell, a grandmother, said that she was vacuuming the hallways of the school district offices when she first heard about the shootings.
"I was in disbelief," Sorrell said. "It was hard to hear and hard to think about."
Sorrell’s daughter called not long after, overwhelmed, like so many others, at the thought of something like this happening to her own school-aged children.
Remembering the victims
The vigil opened with an introduction that left Councilmember Power Evans at a loss for words. He expressed the collective pain felt across Barrow County and the importance of community support.
''Love will prevail over what happened today," County Commissioner Alex Ward said, repeating and emphasizing what Sheriff Jud Smith had said in an earlier press conference,
In a call for unity and prayer, Geoffrey Murphy, lead pastor at Winder First United Methodist Church, highlighted the bravery of first responders. With eyes closed he prayed for mercy, peace, and strength for the affected families and all of those affected by the violent act. Murphy urged the community to be a light in the darkness, promoting kindness, mercy, and love to overcome evil.
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Mackenzie Callahan, a senior at Winder-Barrow High School, said that she was taking a test when her school went on a soft lockdown. Not long after she received a text from a friend at Apalachee High saying someone had brought a gun to school.
"One of my close friends, her best friend's brother is one of the ones who passed away, so I know she's kind of hitting heavy on this," Callahan said.
Students from Winder-Barrow High School, Giselle Andrade, a sophomore, and Disayri Ramirez, a freshman, brought balloons to express their condolences.
"I did have family that goes to Apalachee, it's scary," said Andrade.
After the speakers, prayers and moments of silence, those like Andrade and Ramirez lifted their hands and released their balloons into a gradually darkening sky.
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