Rockford community gathers to honor victims of mass stabbing
Several hundred people in search of healing gathered Thursday for a prayer vigil in a parking lot less than a mile from where a knife-wielding Rockford man killed four people and injured several others the day before.
Local, state and federal leaders joined faith leaders to offer words of hope after Wednesday's terror.
Joining them was Lawrence Steward, local branch president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. He was one of more than a dozen U.S. postal employees who showed up in memory of one of their own — mail carrier Jay Larson.
Steward broke a somber mood with a little laughter when he said, "My dad once told me to always live so they don't have to lie at your funeral. ... Nobody's got to lie about how much they loved Jay. Nobody's gonna lie about how good of an employee he was. No one has to lie about how much he meant to not only his station, his job, his family, but all of you, our customers."
More: Here's what we know about the mass stabbing that left 4 dead, 7 injured in Rockford
Steward said Larson gave his life in service to the community.
"Jay could have ran. Jay could have ignored it, but he confronted it head on," Steward said. "And because of that, you see the people who are here today, not just for him but for all of those who were harmed."
Other fatalities included Jenna Newcomb, 15, Jacob Schubach, 23, and Ramona Schubach, 63.
In a moving plea for prayers, Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd also asked the community to pray for her officers and first responders.
"As a leader of the Rockford Police Department, I can tell you we're hurting as well," she said. "This cuts you at the roots. I can't imagine what the families are going through and the officers that had to be the first ones on scene and see the victims in those conditions."
Wednesday's violence came on the heels of a teen employee at the Northridge Drive Walmart store being stabbed Sunday and later dying that evening.
Chris Green is a Rockford general assignment reporter. He can be reached at 815-987-1241, via email at cgreen@rrstar.com and Twitter @chrisfgreen.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford community gathers to honor victims of mass stabbing
