Santa Fe community pays tribute to fallen 10 three years after deadly shooting
SANTA FE, TX - Three years ago, 10 people were killed at Santa Fe High School in one of the deadliest mass shootings in US history.
On Tuesday, the community held a day of remembrance to paying tribute to the fallen 10.
Three years later on May 18th, the pain slowly begins to subside. But the raw emotion that comes from saying the names of the fallen 10 out loud, hardly gets any easier for survivors like Reagan Gaona.
Gaona's boyfriend, Chris Stone, was killed in the shooting. During a dedication ceremony of a new memorial, Gaona held back tears as she read the names of the fallen 10.
"Jared Conard Black, Shana Fisher, Christian Riley Garcia, Kyle McLeod, Ann Perkins, Angelique Ramirez, Cynthia Tisdale, Sabika Sheikh, Kimberly Vaughan, and Chris Stone. We kindly remember them," Ganoa said.
Other survivors like former Santa Fe resource officer John Barnes showed up at the ceremony to pay their respects.
Outside Santa Fe High School now rests "The Unfillable Chair." Standing at 8-feet tall, the concept is symbolic of the void that will never be filled.
"It's nice to have a physical acknowledgement of everything that’s happened, something that’s more permanent something that people can come to visit," said Corrigan Garcia, a SFHS Class of 2018 graduate.
Garcia was one of five students who helped with the memorial's design.
Down the street at the Alamo Gym, other survivors gathered to heal through movement at the annual Riley’s Hero Hiit workout hosted by the family of the late Christian Riley Garcia.
"High-intensity interval training and we started this program with my nephew. She's a marine and challenged him because he wanted to be an army ranger. The idea was if you can pass a marine corps' PFT program, the army’s going to be a piece of cake. It’s a 16-week program and he made it all the way to week 15, day 2," said Amber Claussen, Riley's aunt.
"It’s bittersweet to say the least cause this was something he wanted to do. And we’ll pick it up and we’re going to keep moving forward. That’s what we’ll do," said Ellen Claussen, Riley's aunt.
The Unfillable Chair is just the first part of a larger memorial that will eventually be built on Santa Fe High School’s campus.
The Santa Fe 10 Memorial Foundation is currently fundraising for the project. To help, click here. https://www.sftenmemorial.org/donate