Maddie Tocco gives a speech at the rock at the candelight vigil for the Oxford community on Dec. 7, 2021.
Illuminated by candles and sharing a goal of hope, student groups gathered at The Rock on Dec. 7 to honor the victims of the Oxford High School shooting and demand bi-partisan action against gun violence.
Representatives from Students Demand Action and Sunrise as well as Oxford High School alumni spoke at the vigil. They were joined by Michigan House of Representative members Kelly Breen and Stephanie Young.
"For those of you who can do something, I urge you and I beg you to do so," Sunrise member Maddie Tocco said. "May your actions speak louder than my words."
The Nov. 30 shooting ended with the killing of four students: Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Justin Shilling, 17, and Tate Myre, 16.
Some students wore clothing from Oxford High School and blue and yellow ribbons in support of the victims. Overcome by emotion, a few students embraced each other during the speeches.
"I may not know those four kids," Tocco said. "But I know someone did. I know someone loved them just like I love my own family. They had friends, too. These people should have been there when they died like I should want if it were me."
After the speakers acknowledged each of the four students from Oxford High School in remembrance, the representative members shared their thoughts and prayers.
"Where there's breath, there's hope," Young said. "So there's great hope for me today by this great (turnout)."
Breen and Young encouraged students to look out for one another by practicing skills that might save a life, like locking up guns and encouraging kindness among peers.
"There's a lot of different things that we can and can't do," Breen said. "But my plea to all of you is do not lose hope. Do not lose faith."
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