Victims remembered under Ohio Stadium stands

More than 100 people participated Thursday in a candlelight vigil for the victims of Tuesday's campus shooting at Ohio State, in which custodial worker Nathaniel Brown shot and killed supervisor Larry Wallington, as well as injuring manager Henry Butler before taking his own life.


The event, put on by the Undergraduate Student Government, was held underneath the south stands of Ohio Stadium as rain fell on the seats above.


After a short presentation, candles that had been handed out by the USG were lit for a moment of silence, followed by the singing of the Ohio State alma mater, "Carmen Ohio."


The vigil was covered by many local news networks, and OSU President E. Gordon Gee was in attendance.


"I wanted to make sure that I was here to tell the students how much I appreciate what they are doing," Gee said. "This is not about the students, it's about the university."


Gee went on to say that he was very impressed by the response time of campus police when the shooting occurred, and that human resource issues would be closely studied in the near future.


Well wishes were extended to the families of Wallington, Butler and Brown in the aftermath of the tragic shooting. Fourth-year Jordan Davis, vice president of USG, gave the opening and closing statements during the presentation.


"What we can do as students is not only support our university leadership, but also the facilities and maintenance staff that are affected by this," Davis said. "I hope this vigil continues the spirit of community and family that we have at this university. It's moments like this when we can come together."


USG senior vice president Jeff Kaplan, graduate professional student trustee Jason Marion, and Lynn Readey, associate vice president of Facilities Operations and Development, also spoke during the vigil.