(GEORGIA NEWS NETWORK) – Several hundred people gathered at the Flowery Branch High School stadium Sunday night to remember and bid farewell to one of the teachers killed in last week’s massacre at Apalachee High School, Richard Aspinwall. “He laid down his life protecting others,” Rev. Matt Lewis said. Aspinwall’s wife, Shayna, teaches at Flowery Branch High.
In addition to an alert system for individual school employees at Apalachee, bleeding control kits that are also available at the school are credited with helping prevent more from dying during the incident. The Georgia Trauma Commission has provided about 99% of public schools in Georgia with these “Stop the Bleed” kits.
Another community is throwing support behind the Barrow County School. A vigil was held Sunday night in Bethlehem, which is not far from Apalachee High. Another such gathering was held in Winder Friday night. Hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars, meanwhile, have been raised for the victims’ families through GoFundMe.
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) wants politicians to rearrange their gun values. But Warnock told NBC Sunday no single law could have prevented the shooting. He’s calling on politicians in Georgia and nationwide to pass more gun safety legislation.