In downtown McKinney, people gathered for a vigil Monday night to recognize the 31 victims of two mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio and in El Paso.
McKinney Mayor George Fuller pointed out the shooting in El Paso hits close to home for many reasons.
"A young man from our neighboring community walked into a Walmart in El Paso and opened fire," he said.
The suspected gunman lived in Allen and graduated from Plano Senior High School in 2017.
"There's a lot of debate as to how we move forward. My hope is that the debate is respectful, absent any partisan nonsense and, most importantly, leads to solutions," Fuller said. "But for the next 20 minutes, debate is not our purpose here tonight."
The crowd sang, lit candles and listened quietly as a member of the McKinney Fire Department's Honor Guard rang a bell 31 times.
Some in the crowd told NBC 5 the vigil was their way of showing support and standing up to violence.
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"It could happen anywhere, unfortunately. But, we can't allow this to be our normal, this is not normal, this is not who we are," McKinney resident Jolanda Mosley said.
Carla Arellano said she moved to Richardson from El Paso a year and a half ago. Her mother still shops at the Walmart where the shooting happened, but wasn't at the store Saturday.
Arellano said she's comforted by the show of support at the vigil.
"It just feels so wonderful to have people here, because when you're so far away from home and you don't have that support system, especially for me, my mom, she's my heart. To know that she's over there alone, it was hard," Arellano said.
"More than anything, the love from everywhere, that's what’s really made this bearable," she said.
