Five Americans who lost loved ones to gun violence offered their stories, including Rep. Lucy McBath, the congresswoman from Georgia who lost her 17-year-old son, Jordan, when he was shot in 2012.
“I saw firsthand the power of telling our stories,” she said.
Abbey Clements, who taught at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, said the young students and teachers lost on Dec. 14, 2012, should still be here.
“On December 14th, 2012, I walked into Sandy Hook school,” she recalled. “Suddenly, a loud crash, like metal folding chairs, falling. One hundred and fifty-four gunshots blaring. Hiding in the coats, trying to sing with my students, trying to read to them, trying to drown out the sounds. Terror. Crying. Running. I carry that horrific day with me. Twenty beautiful first-grade children and six of my beautiful colleagues were killed. They should still be here.”
Kim Rubio’s daughter Lexi was only 10 years old in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. One minute, the school was recognizing Lexi for receiving all A’s.
“Thirty minutes later, a gunman murders her, 18 classmates and two teachers,” Rubio said. “We are taken to a private room where police tell us she isn’t coming home.”
Melody McFadden of South Carolina recalled hunting down information after she heard there was a shooting in Myrtle Beach, where her niece was visiting. McFadden lost her own mother when she was shot and killed by an abusive partner.
“No one can find Sandy,” she recalled. “I stay calm.” Finally, she was connected to the coroner.
Ten years later, her niece’s murder is still unsolved. “I’ll keep calling, and I’ll keep fighting,” she said.
Edgar Vilchez of Chicago was in high school when his classmate was shot.
“It changed my story,” he said. “Instead about worrying about taking a test, I started worrying about living to take another test. They say schools are for learning, and I did learn a lot that day. I learned how to run, how to hide and drop. That what happens in the news can happen to me.”
