8 Centennial Citizen
July 28, 2022
VIGIL FROM PAGE 1
midnight July 20, 2022, at Aurora Water-wise Garden, located at 15151 E. Alameda Parkway, for a vigil. Dearman was the first to present, welcoming people to the 10th annual midnight vigil and reflecting on the night that changed so many lives. “Just after midnight on July 20, 2012, the city of Aurora, my hometown, was struck by tragedy when a gunman entered the Century 16 theater with ill intent. “Seventy people were injured, including my cousin, Ashley, who was shot and paralyzed and also miscarried. Her 6-year-old daughter, Veronica, was with her that night and was also shot,” Dearman said. “Sadly, Veronica succumbed to her injuries along with 11 other moviegoers whose lives were tragically cut short.” Visiting the memorial: ‘A place of peace, hope and resilience’ For the first time, the vigil included a walkthrough tour of the 12 stones placed throughout the garden, the location of the memorial, that are dedicated to those killed in the shooting. Fairy lights decorated the garden and a violinist performed as Dearman walked to each stone and shared information about the victims. Attendees followed behind her, many carrying small electric candles with them. “We’ve never taken people through the tour of each stone before, so we didn’t know how that would work,” Dearman said after the vigil. “But, I think it was beautiful.” In addition to the stones, a main feature of the memorial is the sculpture, “Ascentiate,” which features a sculpture of 83 cranes. Tiina Marie Coon, a member of the board of directors for 7/20 Memorial Foundation and mother of a theater survivor, said there are 70 white cranes to represent those who were injured, as well as 13 clear and silver cranes to represent the souls of lost loved ones, including Ashley Moser’s unborn child. “All of the cranes are flying from all different directions. This represents the people in the theater that came from all over the world, in all walks of life,” Coon said. “It is where they meet in the center and rise together — that’s the ascentiate.” The motivation behind the cranes
Community members gather shortly after midnight on July 20 near the memorial at Aurora Water-wise Garden for the victims of the Aurora theater shooting, which happened PHOTOS BY TAYLER SHAW July 20, 2012.
Additional candles were placed on the memorial stone for Veronica Moser-Sullivan, a 6-year-old who died in the Aurora theater shooting, in recognition of other children who have died in mass shootings, such as the Sandy Hook victims, Heather Dearman said.
Before the midnight vigil officially began on July 20, many people gathered behind the 12 crosses that recognize those killed in the Aurora theater shooting 10 years ago.
was the action of genuine kindness, she said. Following the shooting, a young boy named Nate Williams coordinated with his community to send 1,000 cranes to Aurora with messages of compassion. “As a board, we have always felt that we wanted a non-memorial, memorial — a place of peace, hope and resilience. A place to rise above your tragedies. A place where all of the community can come and heal,” Coon said. Throughout the night, people cried, laughed, prayed and embraced one another. Others visited the 12 white crosses placed along the sidewalk at the entrance of the vigil. These crosses were made following the shooting and placed across the street of the movie theater as a temporary memorial, said Jansen Young, the chief operating officer of the 7/20 Memorial Foundation. Young is a survivor of the theater shooting. Her boyfriend, Jonathan Blunk, was killed that night. “We now place the crosses here every year. These crosses still provide a memorial and a marker for the lives lost. They are not just names on a cross. They are individuals. They are our loved ones,” Young said. For Dearman, one of the standout moments from the vigil was the procession of first responders, called the “Hero’s Procession.” Attendees gathered and applauded on the curb of the street as first responders passed by in their vehicles. Viki Snyder was among those clapping during the procession. Her daughter, Heather, was in the theater and was shot three times. “We lost her five years later,” Snyder said. She said her daughter’s death wasn’t a direct result of the shooting. “She couldn’t get her head back together.” Snyder said her daughter was smiling all the time and was everybody’s friend. “She was an amazing person,” she said. Stephen Barton, a survivor of the shooting, reflects on that night Stephen Barton had been traveling across the country with a friend for about six weeks when they stopped in Aurora to stay with another friend who offered to host them overnight on July 19, 2012. “We offered, to her, to take her to the movies to thank her for hosting us,” Barton said. SEE VIGIL, P10
