WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — As people in West Valley City are trying to make sense of the tragic events from this weekend, neighbors are using ribbons to tie people together. On a street corner, one person set up a ribbon picking station for others to come by, take one, and put it to stand in solidarity with the families impacted by the tragedy at WestFest on Sunday night.
West Valley City police said a 16-year-old fired multiple shots at 18-year-old Hassan Lugundi and killed him at the event.
Four uninvolved bystanders were also shot — two of whom died. A 15-year-old and a 17-year-old were each shot in the arm but are expected to recover. A 41-year-old woman, Reena, and an 8-month-old baby boy, Anderson Garcia Cabrera Jr., were shot and killed.
"It’s scary because I wanted to go out to the festival and I don’t want to go out no more,” Georgina Villalobos said. “It’s too scary. You don’t know what’s going to happen."
After Villalobos and her daughter found out about what happened, they wanted to express their condolences somehow.
WATCH: 'Devastated' family of infant killed at WestFest needs help to 'bring our baby home'
"Pretty emotional about everything going on,” said Adia Dennis. "I had my own baby about five months ago, so this 8-month-old is really hitting home for me right now.”
Dennis said some of her family members were at WestFest when the shooting happened. She was supposed to be there, but didn’t make it.
"We were this close to going this year," she said.
With the weight of sorrow people are feeling, they are using these ribbons to spread a message of love.
"I think that this is a beautiful idea, that’s why we wanted to hang up,” added Dennis. “I’m grabbing as many as I could — I would grab even more — and I’ll hang them up on all my neighbors’ houses."
There is also a sign with the box of ribbons, explaining their significance. The goal is for people to grieve together, and show the families impacted that they are not alone.
"We want kids to go out and live these lives and make memories, but you also have to kind of, I gues,s in today’s day and age, accept that risk factor that there is that possibility that they can’t come home,” said Dennis.
With every ribbon picked, there's a hope that someone else knows that they are not alone, and hoping this doesn’t happen to any person, family or community ever again.
"Think before they act, think about the families they're destroying, taking a poor innocent baby whose life hasn’t even started yet,” added Villalobos.
Kaitlyn Pia put up the station and shared this statement: “We as a community are all absolutely devastated by the senseless violence that happened at West Fest and the lives lost as a result, particularly the life of a sweet baby boy. When one parent grieves, we all grieve. I hope the community of West Valley can continue to come together to support the families of each victim after such a horrific tragedy - Whether through donating to their Go Fund Me, attending fundraisers, or tying a ribbon in our front yards in condolences and support. I hope the families affected know that we are all thinking of them, and mourn with and for them.”
The 8-month-old victim's family is raising money to lay him to rest in their home country of Guatemala. The GoFundMe can be found HERE.
