Boston groups gather to mourn victims
John Ritchie recognized the expressions of pained disbelief on the faces of Virginia Tech officials, standing in the glare of cameras, coming to grips with the violence that shattered the safety of their school.
Ritchie, the superintendent at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, faced reporters in January when police charged a 16-year-old with stabbing a fellow student to death in a school bathroom. Ritchie said parents and students at Lincoln-Sudbury understand a small part of what they are going through in Virginia.
"There is a very poignant and sad and familiar feeling for many people," Ritchie, who sent e-mail to parents yesterday about the Virginia Tech shooting rampage, said in a telephone interview. "There is this surreal feeling of suddenly seeing your community on television."
News of the Virginia Tech slayings continued to resonate yesterday with students and school officials around the Boston region. At Boston College, hundreds attended a prayer service, a Mass, and a candlelight vigil. Classes and other activities came to a standstill at 2 p.m. at Emerson College while the school observed a moment of silence.
Northeastern University held a brief prayer service that included candle lighting and silent reflection. Some students had friends who died in the shooting rampage, such as Ross Alameddine, 20, a Saugus resident who was a sophomore at Virginia Tech, said John Natale, a school spokesman, who declined to elaborate.
At Boston University, students wearing backpacks stood outside in a light mist at noon for a vigil outside Marsh Chapel. The 15-minute service drew about 40 people and was followed by silent reflection inside the chapel.
"It was an opportunity for members of the community to gather in prayer and show our compassion and support and concern for their peers at Virginia Tech," said Colin Riley, a university spokesman.
At Lincoln-Sudbury, Ritchie e-mailed parents a message he had received from a student. "No one can imagine what the Virginia Tech community is going through, but we know a little better than others," the student wrote, according to a copy of the message provided by Ritchie, who declined to name the student.
"Because we were under the microscope of the commercial media, too. Because we never saw it coming . . . we were lost, confused, betrayed, and angry. Because we were overwhelmed and didn't know how to react."
