Copley Teens Mourn Loss of Classmates at Candlelight Gathering

More than 200 teenagers and a small group of Copley-Fairlawn administrators, teachers and parents gathered at a twilight vigil in the high school parking lot Monday, Aug. 8.

It was the second in as many days.

The gathering was organized by students to mark the loss of 16-year-old and an as-yet unnamed student. Both were among the seven Copley Township neighbors stalked and shot to death by 51-year-old Goodenough Avenue resident  during a deadly rampage on Sunday.

Teenagers sang, cried, hugged and swayed in the growing darkness holding candles and balloons. Teenage boys stood at the edges of the crowd. Some laughed nervously.

Fifteen-year-old Jacob Kalish said he heard about the gathering on Facebook, the same way he learned that something was going terribly wrong on Sunday.

"About 11:30 in the morning I was on Facebook and people were saying someone was shooting," Kalish said. "I knew my friends were hanging out over near Schocalog, and I texted them, 'Stay inside. There's a shooter on the loose'."

John Strobel was the friend Kalish was texting. He was in a car in his neighborhood with another friend and didn't get the message -- but he also knew something was wrong. "We had been outside for about 30 minutes before and decided to go get something to eat. We were near Schocalog and saw a bunch of cops up there."

Both Strobel and Kalish knew the dead Copley students. What happened to them makes no sense, both said.

"They were nice," Kalish said. "They were both good people who had never done anything to anyone to deserve something like this."

Copley Middle School students Morgan Pletcher and Maddie Chaney spent a good bit of the vigil trying in vain to get a heart made of tea candles to stay lighted. Each time the tiny candles in the metal cups at the top of the heart would fire, others would blow out.

The girls also heard about the vigil, and the shootout, through Facebook.

"My friend, whose sister died, had to come home from a birthday party early," Chaney, 13, said.

"I can't sleep," Pletcher, 15, said. "Who does something like that?"

Copley High School Principal Cameron Ryba said the gathering wasn't a school-sponsored event. "They did this all on their own," Ryba said. "Kids this age need to be with their friends at a time like this. They have to talk, to process their feelings, and we try to help them do that." 

School administrators, teachers and guidance and grief counselors were available at the school Monday to talk to any student, parent or neighbor who needs assistance. Ryba said counselors will be back from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today (Tuesday, Aug. 9) at the school and will be available after Tuesday by appointment as long as needed.