Austin High School Honors Uvalde Victims With 19 Empty Desks, 2 Empty Chairs

The tragic school shooting that took place earlier this week in Uvalde, Texas has people around the world feeling several emotions.

It’s safe to say that the emotions many of us El Pasoans are feeling are emotions that take us back to August 3, 2019. A time when our community was torn into pieces after 23 innocent lives were taken on what was supposed to be just another Saturday morning.

That tragedy may have torn us into pieces, but it never tore our community apart. Instead, it brought us closer together.

Through art, random acts of kindness, city-wide murals, fundraising events, and more, our community showed compassion the days after that tragic shooting and in the past few days, our community is showing that same compassion once again for a community nearly 500 miles away from us, Uvalde, Texas.

Austin High School Sets Up 19 Empty Desks, 2 Empty Chairs To Honor Uvalde School Shooting Victims:

19 Empty school desks were placed outside of Austin High School Friday morning as a tribute to the 19 students who were killed during the Uvalde mass school shooting.

At the end of these 19 empty desks were two black chairs. Those two black chairs represented the two teachers, Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles, who died trying to shield their students from the shooter's bullets.

Graffiti Message In Central El Paso Shares Simple Message: Stop Shooting Kids

On my way to the makeshift memorial at Austin High School I came across this very random but powerful graffiti message on the corner of Montana Ave. and Copia: “Stop Shooting Kids”

These simple but powerful words were spray-painted near a dumpster area right outside of a corner gas station, but the one thing that really got me in my emotions was that this message was right across the street from an Elementary School. Children the same age as the 19 students who were shot in the Uvalde mass school shooting.

The Star On The Mountain To Be Lit In Honor Of Uvalde Victims

The beautiful star on our Franklin Mountains will be lit in honor of the 21 victims of the Uvalde shooting this weekend.

The City of El Paso in collaboration with the El Paso Chamber will light the Star On the Mountain for the victims at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, May 29th.

El Pasoans Are Invited To Take Part In A Moment of Silence At Ponder Park To Honor The Victims and Their Families

Ponder Park will always have ties to the tragic August 3rd shooting in El Paso. It served as a memorial site for us and this weekend it will serve as a place where the community can come together for a moment of silence to honor the 21 innocent lives that were taken at Robb Elementary School.

The moment of silence will happen at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, May 29th at Ponder Park which is located at 7500 W. H. Burges.

Those who attend will have the chance to add their names to an electronic condolences book which will be sent to Uvalde.

This moment of silence will coincide with the Star on the Mountain being lit in honor of the victims.