Watch CBS News

Texas school shooting vigil designed to encourage people to fight for change held in Scarsdale

Numerous gun control rallies planned in NYC and around country on Thursday
Numerous gun control rallies planned in NYC and around country on Thursday 03:05

SCARSDALE, N.Y. -- In the wake of the Texas elementary school shooting, people in the Tri-State Area have been gathering to try and find comfort, answers, and to make sense of the senseless.

CBS2's Kevin Rincon was a vigil in the Westchester County town of Scarsdale on Wednesday night.

Uvalde, Texas is some 2,000 miles away, but the pain from the shooting there can be felt and seen on the faces of those in attendance.

READ MOREParents of victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting struggling with massacre in Uvalde, Texas

Parents with kids the same age as those gunned down in that classroom showed up, with no real sense of what to even say to their children.

The interfaith vigil was not just an effort to remember the 21 lives lost, but an opportunity to try and pick people up and encourage them to continue fighting for change.

A few lawmakers were on hand but did not promise change because they know they need help from colleagues on the other side of the aisle who have been unmoved by mass shootings before, and are likely unmoved after the one on Tuesday.

"We have a society where people are calling out for help and we're not helping them," Rep. Jamaal Bowman said. "So we have to restructure our society, all of it, from the ground up, and we have to focus on care and love for everyone."

"I am almost losing hope. There are so many times where we've come here to pray, to be together and to go forward, and yet there is another horrific incident," Assemblywoman Amy Paulin said.

One of the pastors made it clear inside the church that coming to the vigil is not about making ourselves feel better. It's about walking away knowing there is still a lot more that needs to be done, a lot more change that needs to be fought for.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.