Nashville Holds Vigil for Victims

'I so wish we weren't here,' mayor tells mourners
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 29, 2023 7:40 PM CDT
Nashville Holds Vigil for Victims
Evelyn Dieckhaus was killed Monday in the Nashville school shooting.   (AP Photo)

Hundreds of people, including first lady Jill Biden, gathered Wednesday evening at a candlelight vigil in Nashville to honor and mourn the three children and three adults who were killed in a shooting at a Christian school this week. The downtown ceremony for the victims of the shooting at the Covenant School was largely somber and silent and filled with young people, the AP reports. Singer Sheryl Crow were among those attending, as were civic leaders including the mayor and police chief. "Just two days ago was our city's worst day," Mayor John Cooper said. "I so wish we weren’t here, but we need to be here."

Biden did not speak to the crowd, per CBS News. She stood with attendees, per the Tennessean, after making a visit to the Covenant School. Cooper publicly thanked her at the vigil for coming to Nashville and President Biden for ordering flags lowered to half-staff to honor the victims. There were several performances by musicians. Margo Price sang Bob Dylan's "Tears of Rage," and Sheryl Crow sang "I Shall Believe." Ketch Secor, a member of Old Crow Medicine Show, sang what the Tennessean described as a "thundering version" of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" A prayer honoring the victims concluded the vigil.

(More Nashville school shooting stories.)

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