By Kristen Gelineau
Associated Press Writer
Visit P1’s VA Tech coverage
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Mourners gathered Wednesday for the one-year anniversary of the mass shootings at Virgina Tech on Wednesday to honor the 32 people killed when a student went on a rampage before killing himself.
The first memorial was held at the stroke of midnight, with more than a thousand people gathered around the 32 memorial stones by candlelight on the main campus lawn.
A ceremony honoring the victims of Seung-Hui Cho’s rampage was planned for later in the morning in front of the memorial, where the candle lit at midnight will continue burning for 24 hours.
It has been exactly one year since the mentally ill student from South Korea killed 32 people and himself in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. And while this close-knit campus has worked hard to move on, the anniversary of the killings has left many struggling to cope.
Other small, reflective gatherings were to take place during the day, with a candlelight vigil scheduled for the evening. One group of students planned to lie down in protest of Virginia’s gun laws in the afternoon.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine ordered state flags flown at half-staff, and a moment of silence at noon followed by the tolling of bells.
Many people weren’t sure how to observe the anniversary of a tragedy that was as unifying as it was shattering.
“Just in interacting with people, you can tell,” said Heidi Miller, a 20-year-old student who was shot three times and was one of six survivors in a French class. “It’s like a big question mark. Should we be in mourning all day, or should we try to do something normal?”
Some of the families of those killed said they couldn’t bear to attend the official events and planned to grieve privately.
Commemorations of those who were killed started Tuesday. A small bouquet of white carnations lay outside Norris Hall, where Cho and 30 others died. A dozen white roses ringed Caitlin Hammaren’s memorial stone. A tiara, a note with 21st birthday wishes, and an empty sparkling grape juice bottle were left at Leslie Sherman’s memorial.
At the Blacksburg Jewish Community Center, about 60 people attended an evening ceremony to mark the end of their year of mourning.
The anniversary of the shootings and how it will impact the victims’ families has weighed heavily on Gerald Massengill, who led a governor-appointed panel that investigated the slayings. He has tried to focus his thoughts on the changes that have been made to the state’s mental health system and school security procedures in light of the panel’s recommendations.
“I think a lot of us have been anticipating April the 16th with some reservations as to how it would impact us,” he said. “And I think as it’s gotten closer, what I have tried to consume myself with are those things ... the lessons that we think we could learn from Virginia Tech.”