Hundreds gather for vigil in wake of mass shooting at Brown University

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Hundreds gathered to mourn, honor, and simply be together 24 hours after Saturday’s mass shooting at Brown University.

The Sunday vigil brought together elected and religious leaders, along with students and families lighting candles and singing Amazing Grace, amid a noticeable police presence.

The event was initially planned as a Christmas tree and menorah lighting, but organizers pivoted in the hours after the tragedy.

“This is an epidemic that’s flooding our country,” said 18-year-old high school student and gun violence activist Josselyn Wolf, who hid in her home under lockdown with her family Saturday. “To have it come so close to home is really, really hard to see, and particularly with young people like myself whose futures were just starting.”

Among the Brown students gathering was junior Mia Tretta, who was critically wounded in a 2019 shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, Calif, in which the shooter used a ghost gun to kill two people, including Tretta’s best friend.

“I was 15 years old when I was shot at my school, and I wasn’t able to attend the vigil after the shooting,” Tretta said Sunday. “And being here to support my community in any way I can is important to me.”

Still shaken by the close call, PhD student Owen Tower told Boston 25 News he had been in the engineering building where the tragedy unfolded minutes before, only leaving to get ready for an alumni event in Boston.

“I was in there 30 minutes prior, and I was just writing code, and I figured I could leave,” Tower said. “But if I did not, I was hanging out on the first floor where it went down. So, it’s kind of wild.”

Psychologist Catherine Vieira-Baker said the community’s support is critical for victims and their families.

“The trauma, it changes you,” Vieira-Baker said of the survivors. “People have to understand that those who have experienced this might be changed. And they just need the support and the love and the care.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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