Attendees of an outdoor concert in Las Vegas were victims of the most deadly massacre in modern U.S. history on Sunday evening, with 59 dead and 527 injured as of Monday night. Students gathered at the E. King Gill statue to hold a candlelight vigil for the victims of Sunday night’s mass shooting in Las Vegas.
The gathering was announced on Facebook by sport management junior Kellan Munden. Candles were lit in remembrance of the victims and students were given the opportunity to process the event of the previous night.
“Students and college campuses are so easily affected by stuff like this,” Munden said. “You can look at past mass shootings and these are usually the areas that people are affected by, and it’s just really scary that it could be anybody and anywhere and you would hope that everyone would come together no matter where it is.”
Munden said that despite the distance between Texas and Nevada, the vigil allowed students to reflect on the magnitude of the tragedy.
“I think it’s just so easy to disconnect yourself from it and to not think about the lives that are actually lost,” Munden said. “I think I’m just overwhelmed because you can’t really wrap your mind around it.”
Animal science sophomore Jacob Schneider said he felt that unity could improve the country’s atmosphere.
“I feel like our country’s in a really rough place right now and I feel like the more support we can do – like come together – the better” Schneider said. “My heart just goes out to all of them.”
Schneider said he was emotional about the tragedy.
“Personally, I’m really saddened and angry … these are fellow Americans,” Schneider said. “We need to mourn, we need to help them out. Then we can deal with everything else.”
Schneider said he worries the shooting will follow the pattern of similar events in the past that faded into obscurity without leading to substantial change.
“I would like to say that it would get better after this … but going based off the past this will go away and things will go back to normal,” Schneider said.
Communication senior Jonathan Miller also expressed sadness and frustration at the violence.
“The Orlando massacre last year was something that really hurt me deep and seeing that it’s basically the same thing but five times worse is just even harder,” Miller said.
Communication junior Savannah Martin echoed Miller’s frustrations.
“I was sitting in my car and they were talking about it on the radio and I was pretty much just crying,” Martin said. “It’s so sad that these headlines – they’re not something that’s unusual to us anymore.”
Communication sophomore Jerilyn Hogan said she felt the national impact of the tragedy.
“This is heartbreaking … this is America, it’s part of our family, this is an attack on all of us,” Hogan said. “I’m just so glad, even though it’s a little small gathering that we’re taking time to remember the lives that were taken.”