Hundreds of people gathered in Weston, just east of Wausau, Sunday, to pay their respects to the four victims fatally shot in northern Wisconsin last week.
Organizers say the candlelight vigil Sunday was a chance to show support for the families of the three women and one man who lost their lives in Wednesday’s violence.
Despite a rainy evening, the crowd gathered at a park to remember the four victims: attorney Sara Quirt Sann, Marathon Savings Bank employees Dianne Look and Karen Barclay, and Everest Metro Police Det. Jason Weiland.
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Marathon County Sheriff Scott Parks led a moment of silence then addressed the crowd.
“Each of these persons had a life story that abruptly ended,” Parks said. “As we learn more about these persons, we come to realize just how close this community is. We realize that their lives were intermingled with each other through relatives, friends, and associates.”
Everest Metro Police Chief Wally Sparks said the loss of a police officer is a blow but he told the crowd that other families are hurting as well.
“I know the police department, we tend to be kind of out front a little bit but there’s four victims here and families and loved ones that are all affected,” Sparks said.
The alleged shooter, Nengmy Vang, is in custody. He is accused of shooting his wife’s divorce attorney, Quirt Sann, in Schofield, the two bank employees in Rothschild and Weiland after a standoff at Vang’s Weston apartment.
The shootings are being attributed to domestic violence since the accused shooter, Vang, is in divorce proceedings.
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