For three long hours on Thursday afternoon, Joe Camarlinghi waited at a Bend, Oregon, church for word about his daughter.
asserted
Camarlinghi → wait → daughter
Camarlinghi had received an alert about a shooting at Silver Rail elementary, heard sirens and quickly headed to campus, where he was directed to the church along with other parents.
asserted
he → receive → parents
Parents and teachers cried and hugged, and waited.
asserted
Parents → cry → ?
“The gravity of that room was like nothing else I’ve ever felt before,” he said while standing not far from a memorial outside the school on Friday.
asserted
he → feel → Friday
“Every parent [there was] in the same boat of, is my child OK, and not knowing for hours.”
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child → be → hours
Camarlinghi and his wife soon had a tearful reunion with their third grade daughter.
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Camarlinghi → have → daughter
On Thursday afternoon, Griffin J John II, a 16-year-old former Silver Rail student, climbed over a school fence, fired a gun through a set of locked doors and headed toward a special education classroom.
asserted
II → climb → classroom
He shot six people, killing a teacher and three children, before a parent fatally shot him, according to police.
uncertain
parent → shoot → police
The students killed were aged five, eight and 11, and were all in the same classroom.
asserted
students → kill → classroom
Officials identified the teacher as Megan Lambert, a 25-year-old whose family said she loved her students, and “fought for the underdog” and “those with special needs”.
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she → identify → needs
The violence has devastated the tight-knit central Oregon city of 100,000 people, an area well-known for its outdoor recreation and craft breweries.
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violence → devastate → recreation
Though the school was closed and patrolled by police officers, a make-shift memorial of flowers in front of the campus sign quickly formed.
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memorial → close → sign
It grew larger by the minute as a steady stream of people arrived all day long, delivering bouquets, balloons, teddy bears, Minnie Mouse stuffed animals and a pumpkin.
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stream → grow → bouquets
They wrote messages in chalk: “love always wins” and “fly high Megan”.
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love → write → chalk
Some stopped by for just a moment, while others sat, and parents held their children and cried together.
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parents → stop → children
“It’s hard to leave,” one woman remarked as she took in the scene.
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she → ’ → scene
Kacy McCarney and her daughter Bayleigh brought half a dozen bouquets of roses and daisies to pay their respects at the school the 12-year-old attended for years.
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old → bring → years
Bayleigh drew hearts in chalk on the sidewalk.
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Bayleigh → draw → sidewalk
It still feels like Bayleigh’s home, McCarney said, as the family know all the teachers and many students.
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family → feel → teachers
“She still has us drive by every time we’re in the area,” McCarney added.
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McCarney → have → area
Bayleigh, now a middle schooler, learned about what occurred when a classmate received a text message and screamed.
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classmate → learn → message
She immediately called her mom, asking her about friend after friend she knew at the school.
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she → call → school
One of them was injured and hospitalized, Kacy McCarney said.
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McCarney → injure → them
“You see the horrific things that happen outside of your town and it’s horrific and terrifying and so sad.
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it → see → town
You never think it’s going to happen on the home front to our community, to our babies,” she said.
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she → think → babies
The steady volume of visitors to the memorial showed the impact the violence has had in the area, but also the deep appreciation people have for Silver Rail.
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people → show → Rail
More than one person described the school as a “blessing”, including Camarlinghi, who volunteered at Silver Rail for seven years.
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who → describe → years
“The teachers, we know them.
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we → know → them
They’re amazing,” Camarlinghi said, adding that even former educators showed up at the reunification center on Thursday to offer their support.
asserted
educators → ’re → support
“It’s a tight-knit community, and I just want to say thank you to all of them.
asserted
I → ’ → them
David Chinburg drove from a nearby town to play the instrument at the memorial to bring comfort to people.
asserted
Chinburg → drive → people
It’s a tradition that originated during the siege of Sarajevo when a cellist played the instrument at a marketplace where 22 people had died.
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people → ’ → marketplace
Chinburg has been playing for more than 60 years, but his bow arm was shaking as he sat in front of the elementary school, he said.
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he → play → school
“I just hope it helps to cleanse the grounds, the space, so that people can feel safe going back,” he said.
asserted
he → hope → grounds
He planned to come back three more days to honor each of the victims.
asserted
He → plan → victims
All around the city, the sadness is palpable, said Fabiola Caseres, who runs a local preschool and came to the memorial to deliver flowers.
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who → say → flowers
Many of her former students attend Silver Rail.
asserted
Many → attend → Rail
“It just feels so heavy,” she said.
asserted
she → feel → ?
“Everybody is looking like deer in the headlights.
asserted
Everybody → look → headlights
It’s so sad, and you can’t stop thinking about the kids.
asserted
you → ’ → kids
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
