Dec. 8 (UPI) — Hundreds gathered in Albuquerque late Thursday to mourn the death of two students shot to death at a New Mexico high school.
The students were identified as Casey Jordan-Marquez and Francisco Fernandez. They were shot Thursday at Aztec High School, and more than a dozen others were injured in the attack.
Police were called to the high school — located in Aztec, about 180 miles northwest of Albuquerque — at around 8 a.m. Thursday after reports of gunfire.
“We heard shots and it wasn’t very close and then it stopped for a little bit,” student Briley Dills said.
“Then we heard shots again and it was really close. And we were sitting in a corner up against a wall and I could like feel it vibrating … and then it stopped.”
Marquez’s grandparents spoke to the crowd at Thursday’s vigil, and many members of Fernandez’s family wore shirts with his picture on it.
“She’d love to see everybody here,” Marquez’s grandfather said. “She loved everybody. If anybody was down, she was always there to cheer them up.”
At the vigil, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez said she will dedicate resources to Aztec.
“As a family and as a community this shook us to our core but we have to remember that as a community we can heal,” Martinez said.
