From our media partners at 24-hour News 8/WOODTV...
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — A year after a devastating shooting spree rocked the Kalamazoo area, plans are in the works to erect a permanent memorial to honor the lives lost in and affected by the tragedy.
Details are being closely guarded, but organizers say the multiyear project will include a physical monument. Fundraising still needs to be established.
More details about the memorial will be unveiled at the “ForeverStrong” vigil, which will be held at the Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo on the one-year anniversary of the shooting rampage.
Rich and Tyler Smith, Mary Jo Nye, Mary Lou Nye, Barbara Hawthorne and Judy Brown were killed in the shooting rampage allegedly carried out by Uber driver Jason Dalton on Feb. 20, 2016. Tiana Carruthers and teen Abigail Kopf were seriously wounded and continue to recover.
Toni Daniels, the vice president of the Kalamazoo Strong Organization, helped organize the anniversary candlelight vigil. Like so many people who live in or near Kalamazoo, this Feb. 20 will bring back memories she would sometimes rather not have.
“It’s a scab but now we’re peeling it back again,” she told 24 Hour News 8 on Monday night. “So all those emotions are coming back that we experienced when we heard of the news on February 20th — that fear, that sorrow.”
Photo courtesy of 24-hour News 8/WOODTV.
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