EAST LANSING, Mich. — Psalms 23 was one of the scriptures read at University Seventh-Day Adventist church in East Lansing. That’s where students and community members came together for a vigil Tuesday, honoring the victims of the Michigan State University shooting.
“Psalms 23, which is the Lord is my shelter I shall not want, he makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters,” said Cannan Franscisco.
He attended the vigil Tuesday at the church, where an atmosphere for healing was created through prayer, songs and on-site counseling. Francisco visits the university often, and says if the shooting happened a few days later he would’ve been in the midst of those terrifying moments.
“We do Bible study at The Union every Thursday at 7pm, and that could’ve been us,” said Francisco.
Logan Macall and Madelyn Ford are both seniors at MSU. They live off campus, but that's not the case for their friends, who they say live on campus and were hiding in their bathrooms during the shooting.
“I won’t forget this, it's just incredibly unique in the darkest way, it just broke my heart,” said Macall.
Ford visits the building where the shooting happened, often. One she says she won't be able to walk through the same after what happened.
“Berkey, the building where two of the victims were in, I have three classes in that building and I’m there everyday,” said Ford.
They came out to be alongside others who are grieving and hoping to heal from something so devastating. Which is the reason Pastor Jermaine Gayle believed it was important to host this vigil and provide a space for those who are hurting.
“Usually with traumatic experiences happen especially experiences on this level, we tend to be more afraid divided scattered, and our goal was to create a space so we can come together and heal because that’s good for us to do,” said Pastor Gayle.
Despite the tragedy, shock and despair, there’s one thing the two students we talked to today wants everyone to know.
“It doesn’t define Michigan State or us, but we will overcome it,” said Macall.
