C. Oregonians speak out, honor school massacre victims

For some unspeakable acts, there are no words.

“It’s indescribable,” a Bend eighth-grader said Saturday.

“There are no words to describe how people feel,” said a father tightly holding his toddler. “Especially during the holidays.”

People on the High Desert were choked with a mixture of emotions on Saturday, the day after the tragic massacre at a Connecticut school left 20 small children, seven women and the shooter dead.

“(I have) a lot of anger at the shooter and how this happened,” said a woman shopping in the Old Mill.

Another man said he was appalled and blamed the violence on video games, media and a country desensitized to gore.

A young girl said “I feel sad, ’cause a little kid goes to school, and then, they just don’t come home.”

And some felt they had to do something, anything, to ease the pain.

People in Central Oregon are paying tribute to the victims and their families, starting with a moment of silence for the Connecticut victims at a special Wreaths Across America ceremony that honors fallen soldiers.

The remembrances continued Saturday night with a vigil at Bend’s Drake Park.

“So many people mourn on their own alone, and they don’t have support,” said Bend resident and vigil organizer Josh Queen.

Queen is a local public relations expert who was on his way to the gym when he found out about the shooting.

He told NewsChannel 21 he knew instantly he wanted to do something to help.

“Getting a candlelit vigil together gives the community an opportunity to come out and meet with friends and neighbors, and just remember,” Queen said. “And hopefully something like this tonight will give people a little bit of peace and let them move on.”

With or without a candle in their hands, Central Oregonians say they’ll be praying for the victims and their families.

The eighth-grader said she wanted to let people in Connecticut know that so many people here in Central Oregon are praying, and she wants them to feel protected.