Church makes memorial for victims of recent mass shootings
By WCVB Staff
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NEEDHAM, Massachusetts (WCVB) — A church in Massachusetts is honoring the 32 people who were killed in three mass shootings across the country this month.
The Congregational Church of Needham has set up the following on its grounds along Great Plain Avenue: 21 empty classroom chairs, 10 empty shopping baskets and one empty pew.
The empty classroom chairs are for the 19 students and two teachers who were killed in last Tuesday’s shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Authorities said the 18-year-old gunman, Salvador Ramos, was in the building for over an hour before he was killed by law enforcement officers, prompting an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department.
The empty shopping baskets are for the 10 people who were killed in the May 14 shooting at the Tops Friendly Market in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Buffalo. The suspect, 18-year-old Payton Gendron, livestreamed the attack from a helmet camera before surrendering to police outside the grocery store. Shortly before the attack, which injured three other people, Gendron posted hundreds of pages of writings to online discussion groups where he detailed his plans for the assault and his racist motivation. Authorities are continuing to investigate the possibility of hate crime and terrorism charges.
The empty pew is for Dr. John Cheng, who was fatally wounded while tackling a gunman who opened fire during a May 15 church luncheon in Laguna Woods, California. Five others were wounded in that shooting, including an 86-year-old woman and four men, ages 66, 75, 82 and 92. The suspect, 68-year-old David Chou, of Las Vegas, was motivated by hatred of Taiwanese people, according to authorities. A federal hate crimes investigation is also ongoing.
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