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A large number of students gathered for a vigil on College Green on Tuesday, Feb. 28, in remembrance of the victims of the Chardon High School shooting Monday morning. (Brien Vincent | Staff Photographer)

OU honors shooting victims

Every morning started the same for Maria Monarchino’s cousin — he sat at the same lunch table in the Chardon High School cafeteria, enjoying the company of his friend, 16-year-old Danny Parmertor.

Every morning, that is, except for Monday. Monarchino’s cousin was running late for school that day, but little did he know the tardiness could save his life.

At about 7:30 a.m. Monday, 10 deafening shots ripped through Chardon High School’s cafeteria from a 22-caliber pistol, striking five students — three of whom sat at Parmertor’s lunch table.

By Tuesday, three Chardon High School juniors were dead — Danny Parmertor, 16; Russell King, Jr., 17; and Demetrius Hewlin, 16. Two others, junior Nick Walczak, 17, and senior Joy Rickers, 18, were seriously injured. Students identified the shooter as student T.J. Lane.

Monarchino, an OU freshman studying biology and 2011 Chardon alumna, stood in front of the Civil War Monument on College Green, its spotlight casting shadows against posters reading “Rest Easy Russell, Danny and Demetrius” and “One heart beats for you.”

The hushed whispers, shaking shoulders and consoling hugs of just moments before came to a halt as the more than 100 red-clad mourners listened intently to Monarchino’s quivering but strong voice.

“That scares the hell out me,” she sobbed. “I can’t help but think, ‘What if?’”

Flickering candles lined the stonewall surrounding the monument, bringing the shocked mourners even closer together against the cold — a closeness the Chardon alumni said was nothing out of the ordinary.

“We’re a town of 5,000 people,” said Kelley McArthur, a junior studying journalism and 2009 Chardon alum. “This is so devastating for a tight-knit community like ours. It’s hard being away from home.”

Kathryn Warren was rocked by the trauma as if she were home and experiencing it along with her community.

“Chardon is the safest place you can be — we leave doors unlocked,” said Warren, a senior studying communication studies and 2008 Chardon alum. “I can remember being a senior there, and I think about sitting in the cafeteria with my friends … the last thing I thought I’d see was my school on CNN.”

The shock also shook Jason Kuhn, who spoke to the crowd at the base of the monument. Kuhn, a sophomore, had served as a mentor for the Chardon High students.

Laughing through his tears, Kuhn relayed stories of questioning “Russ-bus” on the whereabouts of his homework and Walczak’s class-clown demeanor.

“You assume you’re gonna see them again — you’ll probably see them at Walmart since that’s the place to go in Chardon,” Kuhn said. “You gotta make sure you tell them you appreciate them — no one’s a replica of them, and you’ll never meet anyone like them again.”

After many Chardon alumni shared anecdotes of the shooting victims and several Athens residents also expressed their support, the gatherers donated money to the affected families and signed posters to show support. At the end of the night, $196 was collected.

Then, gripping red and white candles tightly, the sniffling crowd passed a flame from wick to wick and began chanting Chardon’s alma mater.

A blond-haired girl stood in front of the shivering crowd, the tears rolling down her face glistening in the candlelight. She choked out the words to the alma mater, her voice quivering: “Memories that to us are dear, will last forever through the years.”

She and her fellow Hilltoppers will never forget the lives lost that fateful morning, a sentiment etched in red and black ink on a poster propped up by the side of the monument:

“They’re not gone, they’re just climbing the tallest hill they can.”

as218907@ohiou.edu

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