OXFORD (WWJ) The crowd became frantic when someone had an apparent medical scare in the middle of the vigil to remember the victims of the Oxford School shooting and support the community.
A crowd of people stretched out as far as the eye could see in downtown Oxford Friday evening.
During Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter’s speech (about 15 minutes into the vigil), the crowd turned and began running.
“It’s all right!” Coulter called out. “Stay calm! Stay calm! More people will be harmed by running. Somebody just went down….go back to your places! Everyone go back to your places.”
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard joined Coulter at the microphone, urging the crowd to relax.
“Somebody just passed out,” Coulter said. “We’re okay. There is no harm. There is no violence happening.”
“Typically, when you have a large crowd event, somebody will faint. Somebody will pass out. It’s not unusual,” Bouchard said. “When people call for help, which they have done, in this raw emotional environment, people are obviously anxious and afraid.”
A high school student wearing an Oxford Wildcats shirt sang Ave Maria while the sheriff took care of the situation.
“We’re still on edge. We’re still nervous. We’re still scared,” Coulter said. “How do we even begin to recover and heal from such a devastating event?”
No further details have been released about the apparent medical incident at the event.
Coulter said the county will deploy “every resource at our disposal to give this community what it needs.”
“…That’s the easy part,” Coulter said. “It’s the wounds we all carry inside that may never fully heal. The wounds that are on such vivid display tonight.”
He promised mental health support for all who needed it and quoted a Bible passage. “There may be pain in the night, but joy comes in the morning.
“It may seem impossible now, on this night of unspeakable pain, that anything like joy could be in our future. But I have faith that there is a peace that comes despite our limited understanding of it. And when it does, understand this; we will most certainly be changed. Our normal has been shattered. But we will learn to live in a new normal.”
He added that the community “will not be defined” by this tragedy.
“We’ll hug our loved ones a little tighter; we’ll look after each other a little more closely. And we will have a new appreciation for how fragile and precious each day is.”
Governor Whitmer also took the podium.
“We’ve lived through one of the worst weeks in Michigan history. But, this week, we’ve also seen some of the very best in one another,” she said.
Thousands gathered in memory of Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17.
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