MARYSVILLE — Music, prayers and people spilled out of the building and into the parking lot as hundreds gathered at the Grove Church on Friday evening.
Students wore their school colors, red and white, and wrapped their arms around each other. They shared stories. Some told of climbing fences in a rush to get off campus after hearing gunfire Friday morning. Others told of terrifying, breathless moments huddled under tables or in dark corners of locked classrooms. A few blinked back tears. Many couldn’t hold them back.
The vigil was one of at least three held in the city Friday, inviting people to come talk, cry and pray after a shooting at Marysville Pilchuck High School left two students, including the shooter, dead and at least four more injured.
St. Philip’s Episcopal Church and Evergreen Unitarian Universalist Fellowship also held vigils.
Amidst piano music and the hum of hushed voices at the Grove Church, some of the same phrases could be heard over and over: “I’m so glad you’re OK” and “I just can’t believe it.”
The shooting rattled the community, and the vigil was a chance to show compassion and support, the Rev. Nik Baumgart said. It’s OK to be sad and angry and hurt, he said.
“Not one of us should have to grieve alone,” he said. “That’s my worst nightmare… for someone to grieve alone.”
Baumgart graduated from Marysville Pilchuck High School in 1993. Learning about the shooting at his alma mater tore him apart, he said.
“The question is what do you do after this?” he said. “I don’t know. But I think it has something to do with loving each other. For parents, we’re going to go home and hug our kids a lot tighter tonight.”
Voices rose in song punctuated by sobs and sniffles. The lyrics spoke of an end to suffering and a world where violence doesn’t exist.
It was a song and a wish.
Some people raised their hands in the air and swayed to the music, while others stood in somber silence, heads bowed. During a moment of silence after the songs, people joined hands and put their arms around each other.
“We have an opportunity to be here as a community for one another,” Baumgart said.
People from outside Marysville joined the vigil, as well. Gov. Jay Inslee, Snohomish County Executive John Lovick and Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring sat in the front row, among other leaders.
Players from the Oak Harbor football team also came to the vigil, in uniform — a splash of purple in a sea of red — to show support for students and families. Marysville Pilchuck High School was supposed to play Oak Harbor Friday night.
“This is uncharted territory for our community,” Nehring said. “We all sent our kids off this morning and I don’t even remember if I told them goodbye. We just never think they might not come home.”
Anna Soper graduated from Marysville Pilchuck High School in 1999. She wore her letterman’s jacket and carried her 2-year-old son as she stood outside at the vigil, close to a group of people holding candles and murmuring prayers.
She was shaken by the news of the shooting and hoped to reach out to students with a message of hope and strength.
“No one can tell us why this happened,” she said. “But in order to heal and grieve and prevent something like this from happening again, we have to show each other love.”
She recalled wearing red and white while attending high school. She was always proud to be from Marysville, and she wants that community strength to shine through during such a heart-breaking event.
“This is the start, right here today,” she said. “I really hope in my heart that this sparks some kind of community revitalization. You can’t change what has happened, but you can look forward.”
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