BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — On Thursday evening, community members gathered to honor a teen who died in a shooting on a Blue Springs church parking lot.
"We had a homicide in our parking lot last Saturday night, and a church parking lot is supposed to be a sacred space, in a sense," said Penny Ellwood, a pastor at the Church of the Resurrection.
She leads her flock in Blue Springs, and her church's parking lot was the site of the shooting that took the life of 15-year-old Wyatt Conroy.
On Thursday night, that same parking lot was the site of a vigil, a time for a community to come closer together.
"I think about the families and the impact on our students at the high school who have to process this information, it takes away innocence," Ellwood said.
Those students include Teagan Heiter, who was at the candlelight vigil with many of his peers.
"I didn't know him too much, but I knew enough to know he was a fun person to be around," said Heiter, a sophomore at Blue Springs High School.
The vigil featured prayers, songs and candles — lights to celebrate a young and bright light in the community.
"I know that Wyatt was involved in the scouting program, he was a bright student, he was in upper level classes, he was a wrestler, he was actively involved in the high school," Ellwood said.
Teachers were present too, to offer their support, with one of them stepping to the microphone saying, "You've got each other, but you've also got us to find and lean on and talk to and find rest and comfort in as well."
Even as Conroy's community honors him, they say their journey through the grief is just beginning.
"It kind of feels like something is missing, and everything seems off, and nothing seems normal," Heiter said.
After a balloon release, attendees left notes on a wooden cross, with one saying, "I didn't know you, but you were loved by many."
Blue Spring police say they have followed up on more than 60 leads, and are now leading an investigation that included a task force with more than a dozen other local law enforcement agencies.
No arrests have been made.
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