ST. LOUIS — Oct. 24 is a very hard day for St. Louis as many are still mourning the loss of student Alexandria Bell and teacher Jean Kuczka who were shot and killed during a shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience.
It's been two years since a former CVPA student came into the school and started shooting. Seven others were injured. He was shot and killed by police.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones held a moment of silence for those lost during an event earlier on Thursday.
“I want to acknowledge that this day is the second anniversary of the central visual and performing arts shooting where an armed intruder shot and killed Alexandria Bell and Jean Kuczka and wounded many others,” Jones said.
Thursday night at a vigil, the community honored their memory and supported those whose lives changed forever that day.
Emily Schiltz said her son and daughter were both students at Collegiate when the shooting happened and it’s still tough to go back into that building two years later.
“Walking by the exact spot where Alex passed away is in a main hallway that she sees every day,” Schiltz said.
Her son is now in college but he still struggles with the sounds of that day. She said they had to leave a play that involved gunshots.
“He was fine later, but it's never gone, I guess, is the reality,” Schiltz said.
This tragedy inspired parents like Schiltz and others in the nearby church community of St. Margaret of Scotland to create a committee called Gun Sense For The Common Good.
“My kids were victims in the sense of what they witnessed, but it could have been them. And every child, every child deserves to come home alive at the end of the day, full stop,” Schiltz said.
The committee worked to offer free gun locks at church and advocates for change with other groups like Moms Demand Action.
Schiltz said they also helped put together this vigil.
“We can't forget to hold space for the pain and sadness that is part of honoring what has been taken. Then we have to move forward and we all have to find a way to say no more. No more kids,” Schiltz said.
There are extra counselors available for students and therapy dogs will be at the school Friday for anyone who needs support.