Texas shooting: Two faiths, one emotion - grief
Methodist memorial service for Jared Black and Islamic funeral prayers for Sabika Sheikh held in Texas
SANTA FE Two faiths, one emotion - grief. A Methodist memorial service and Islamic funeral prayers held in two Texan suburbs on Sunday shared profound anguish at the lives lost to high school gun violence in Santa Fe, Texas.
Those attending both events expressed a sense of bewilderment that a place of education for young people had once again been transformed by the kind of carnage that has grown increasingly commonplace in the US.
The two services unfolded a day after the authorities released the names of the eight students and two teachers slain on Friday at Santa Fe High School, marking the fourth deadliest shooting at a public school in modern US history.
"What was supposed to be a safe place was not," Mr Rusty Norman, president of the Santa Fe Independent School District board of trustees, said as he addressed about 100 congregants at the Aldersgate United Methodist Church.
Ms Pam Stanich, whose son, Jared Black, 17, was among those killed, was embraced by many mourners as she arrived with other family members.
Later at the Masjid Sabireen mosque, mourners crowded around the coffin of 17-year-old Sabika Sheikh, a Pakistani exchange student who died in the massacre.
They offered prayers and took photos as her casket was carried outside after a service.
Among the mourners were Sabika's host family from Santa Fe. They arrived, six children in tow, the mother covering her blond hair with the red prayer shawl she had received as a Mother's Day gift from Sabika, reported the Washington Post.
The funeral prayers in Stafford, Texas, about 56km east of Santa Fe, were attended by local politicians, including Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, and drew a crowd of hundreds that spilled onto the surrounding grounds.
A handful of men carried signs with slogans calling for improved background checks and higher age limits for gun purchases. One sign read: "Thou Shall Not Kill."
Among the crowd was a group of about six men who said they were streaming the event live via video call to members of Sabika's family watching from Karachi, Pakistan.
PRAYING
Speaking to Reuters on the call, a man who identified himself as Sabika's father, Mr Aziz Sheikh, said: "Everyone is sad and praying for her."
He said he hopes the death of his daughter, who wanted to serve her country as a civil servant or diplomat, would help spur gun control in the US. "Sabika's case should become an example to change the gun laws," he said. - REUTERS
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