MUNCIE, Ind. — Dozens of people came together Monday evening in Muncie for a vigil after a mass shooting that shocked the community.
Thirty-year-old Joseph Bonner was killed in the shooting and at least 18 others were hurt. Police are still searching for the shooter.
Bonner's family attended the vigil, receiving support from the community.
"I don't have to know the young man who passed away. I bet I know his parents. I bet I know his grandparents," said Lathay Pegues, who organized the vigil in the same lot on the Muncie's southeast side where someone opened fire on a block party in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 30.
Community members who gathered, a little more than 100 people, had tears in their eyes, the pain evident on their faces.
Many of them are still searching for answers to one question: Why?
"Over the weekend, it was beautiful, until it wasn't," said Pastor Andre Mitchell, who prayed with the crowd.
More than a dozen people were injured in the shooting that left Bonner dead.
"Joe was a very good young man. Very, very good young man," said Johnny Strong, Bonner's uncle. "He just had a birthday not long ago."
Strong spoke amidst the crowd that gathered to not only pray for Muncie, but all those injured in the shooting, along with their families.
"There's people still fighting for their lives in the hospital, and we need to hold them up in prayer, and we need to hold their families up in prayer," Pegues told the crowd.
Right now, five people who were shot are still hospitalized in Muncie.
Shealyn Orr, who was injured when a car ran over her in the chaos, remains in the ICU at an Indianapolis hospital.
"It's a trickle-down effect. The person who did the violence. The people who are mourning their loved one and everybody hurts from it," said Muncie native Rachelle Joyner, who said she lost her sister last year to gun violence in the city.
"I don't know what the answer is," Joyner added. "It's just people need to have a regard for life, not just your own but others."
Amidst the hurting Monday came an offer to help from local therapists.
"If you're struggling, if you're hurting and you can't find your way past it, there are supports in this community to help," Jessica Hamlin, with Meridian Health Services, told the crowd.
"I know love conquers everything, but it's hard to say what the answer is because everybody with guns, there's a lot of guns out here. There's violence, and people just don't know how to solve problems," said Strong said.
Many of those gathered said they believed the answer could be found in community moments like the one Monday evening.
"Help us to reach people and have a culture where we put the guns down and the love up. Put the guns down and bring the prayer up," Pegues said.