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A North Texas group hosted a candlelight vigil this week in honor of the eight victims killed within the Allen mass shooting on May 6.
At a Little Elm park on Thursday night time, eight white chairs have been adorned with flowers and pictures of the eight folks killed at Allen Premium Outlets: Cindy Cho, Kyu Cho, James Cho, Daniela Mendoza, Sofia Mendoza, Aishwarya Thatikonda, Christian LaCour, and Elio Cumana-Rivas.
The vigil was organized by the India Association of North Texas, although dozens of organizations contributed and attended.
“The community’s very hurt. They don’t feel safe anymore,” mentioned Ashok Dandekar, president of the Chinmaya Mission, Dallas-Fort Worth chapter. “That doesn’t feel right, because Texas is a great state. We all move here for a reason. To have a safe, secure family life and such things happen in our neighborhood.”
Dandekar mentioned he didn’t know any of the eight victims personally, although he is aware of individuals who knew Aishwarya Thatikonda. The 26-year-old, initially from India, lived in McKinney and labored as an engineer.
Brahmachari Hari Chaitanya with the Chinmaya Mission grew up in Allen and lived a few mile from the mall the place the taking pictures occurred.
“The impact, anywhere in the world when this happens, is very tragic and sad. When it hits so close to home, it hurts a lot more,” Chaitanya mentioned.
The group continues to be processing the grief, he mentioned.
“It’s a very close-knit community, especially a community that’s very faith-based like ours. Everyone knows someone who knows one of the victims,” he mentioned.
Deepen Patel, who spoke on the vigil Thursday night time, mentioned his spouse virtually went to the mall on the day of the taking pictures. Their son was there hours earlier than, and he recalled making an attempt to get in contact with him as soon as information broke of the tragic occasion.
“What I went through, that’s nothing compared to these families and what they’re going through today. This is not new to us. We’ve seen this happen,” Patel mentioned.
Grief is shared on this group proper now, however Chaitanya mentioned assist can be being supplied to 1 one other.
“Let us not lose faith that there is humanity and goodness out there. In these kinds of moments, it’s so easy to doubt there is divinity and there is goodness in the world. But there is,” he mentioned.
With the outpouring of assist for the victims of the mass taking pictures on the Allen Premium Outlets, GoFundMe has launched a centralized hub for all verified fundraisers associated to the taking pictures. The on-line fundraising platform mentioned it was working across the clock to make it possible for all funds donated go on to survivors or the households of victims.
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