Academia Avance Mourns Nation's Shooting Victims

One by one, 16 mourners who gathered at the Monday night vigil at Academic Avance Public Charter School read from a piece of paper descriptions of incidents mass shootings that took place in the United States within the last year.

"March 31, 2012, North Miami Florida, two killed, 12 injured when a gunman opened fire at funeral home," read one man.

"May 29, 2012, Seattle, six killed after a man opened fire at coffee shop killing patrons and then himself," read a teenage boy.

On and on it went until the last of the community members in line read a description of last Friday's school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

"Dec 14, 2012, Newtown Connecticut, a young man shoots students and  teachers at an elementary school, then kills himself."

The crowd of community members gathered at Academic Avance Public Charter School on Monday stood in silence with candles in hand as they listened to the descriptions of the shootings.

"These situations, we can talk about what caused them, but you can always ascribe them to a person feeling like they were not loved. The President spoke about that in his speech last night," said Ricardo Mireles, director of Academia Avance Public Charter School. "Who among us has not felt unloved at some point?"

Mireles said organized the vigil not only to commemorate the lives that were taken in mass shootings, but also to offer a reminder that such incidents are the result of individuals feeling isolated or unloved.

"We were all children, and at one point we have all been loved," Mireles said, prior the the vigil. "The Newton shootings are a harsh reminder of what can happen when just one among us is not loved enough."

After the incidents had been read, Mireles asked that the gathered mourners blow out their candles. As they stood in darkness, he said it was up to each member of the community to share their light with the others.

"We need to share the light we have with those around us," he said "And, we need to share our love with all of those around us."

Following the vigil, Mireles elaborated on what he meant by "sharing the light."

"It can be about psychiatric care, or gun control or just about how we're going to love each other," he said.