Hundreds gather to remember shooting victims

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- All of the victims were remembered at an emotion-filled vigil Tuesday night in Oakland. Hundreds of people came to the Allen Temple Baptist Church to honor the memories of those who died.

Whether connected directly to this shooting or not, a lot of people are looking for an outlet desperately to express the sadness they are feeling and so they came together to both pray and reflect.

"We have the courage to tell America that Oakland is better than this and that this is the kind of violence that can happen in any city and that we need to search ourselves and our conscious as Americans," said Mayor Jean Quan.

The violence gave way to grief and hundreds came to Allen Temple Baptist Church to mourn together as a community.

"We're calling the whole community together for a time of reflection, time of a prayer vigil, people from all different denominations, racial backgrounds, who are outraged and saddened by what has happened, or what continues to happen in the city of Oakland in terms of violence and we together are going to stand in unity and bear one another burdens," said David Kiteley, the Shiloh Church pastor.

"Nobody would imagine that their family members would get shot in a school where some of us may feel that it is a safe place to be," said Tenzin Tsedup from the Tibetan Association of Northern California.

The vice president of Oikos University, through an interpreter, spoke about meeting with the family members of the victims. For them, this vigil brought little solace. The tears flowed as officials passed out flowers only a day after California's worst shooting rampages ever.

Flowers were also dropped off at the Oikos campus.

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oakland, Oikos shooting, school shooting, jean quan, east bay news

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