After a school shooting at the high school in Oxford that killed four people Tuesday, the community is trying to understand the unimaginable pain.
All day Wednesday, people placed flowers, stuffed animals and lit candles around the high school grounds.
“We are the United States of America, the greatest country in the world, and we gotta deal with these kinds of things. It doesn’t make any sense,” Said Bud Rowley, former teacher and football coach at Oxford High School. “We’ve been so fortunate living here and being in the United States of America, in Oxford, it’s tough even to fathom.”
While Rowley was a football coach at Oxford High School, he coached one of the victims shot and killed in the shooting, 16-year-old Tate Myre.
“Tate, we knew he was going to be good because he started as a freshman on varsity, and the last two years have been great for him as a football player. He is a great kid, and his family is phenomenal,” said Rowley.
Another victim, 17-year-old Justin Shilling, lived down the street from Rowley.
“He was a good young man, always happy, always ‘hey coach, how you doing?’,” said Rowley. “I’d see him in the morning; he would pick up my neighbor for school. Just a happy-go-lucky kid and very intelligent.”
In this heartbreaking time, the community is doing what they do best, coming together.
“We are tight. We hurt as one. We heal as one. It’s always been a blessing to see people go through hardships and see this community come together,” said Jeff Powers, General Manager at Homegrown Brewing Company. “This community is going to have to take some time and help one and another heal.”
“We have to move forward and keep our chin and chest down and take care of the people who had losses.”
On Friday, there will be a community-wide prayer vigil on M-24 in Oxford at 6:30 pm. M-24 will be closed for the vigil.
© 2023 - 910 Media Group
