Candlelight vigil for Connecticut shooting victims held in Tucson

CREATED Dec. 16, 2012

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  • Dozens of people gathered inside Roberts-Naylor Middle School auditorium to honor the 26 killed in Connecticut. Video by kgun9.com

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  • Teacher Victoria Soto

  • Ana Marquez-Greene

  • Avielle Richman, 6

  • Catherine Hubbard, 6

  • Charlotte Bacon, 6

  • Chase Kowalski, 7

  • Daniel Barden, 7

  • Principal Dawn Hochsprung

  • Dylan Hockley, 6

  • Emilie Parker, 6

  • Grace McDonnell, 7. Family photo.

  • James Mattioli

  • Jesse Lewis, 6

  • Jessica Rikos

  • Josephine Gay, 7

  • Teacher Lauren Rousseau

  • School psychiatrist Mary Sherlach

  • Noah Pozner, 6

  • Caroline Previdi, 6

  • Olivia Engel, 6

Reporter: Cory Marshall

TUCSON(KGUN9-TV) - Sunday, dozens gathered within Roberts-Naylor Middle School auditorium to honor the 26 killed in Connecticut. Inside, supporters heard the names of all 26 school shooting victims killed Friday. Volunteers with the organization; Homicide Survivors,  lit candles in their memory.

Congressman Rob Barber, a shooting victim himself, spoke to a packed auditorium. He told 9OYS the Sandy Hook shooting hit too close to home. Three of his grandchildren, around the same age as Friday's young shooting victims, joined him on stage.

"The shooting and the killings in Newtown, brought it all back again. And so [my grand-kids] are reliving it as are many children and adults here in Tucson. So, our hearts are broken too," Congressman Barber told 9OYS's Cory Marshall.

Gloria Lozano and her first-grade daughter, Thalia, felt compelled to attend the Sunday vigil.

"To bring a candle and just to light the candles for the families and show that we care," Lozano said.

Following the speakers; which included an area pastor, Congressman Barber and Tucson Unified School District Superintendent Dr. John Pedicone, Tucsonans formed a circle, joining in a candlelight vigil.