Carmel United Methodist hold vigils, urges elected leaders to take action to prevent more shootings

CARMEL — Wednesday night, Carmel United Methodist Church held a prayer vigil to honor the lives lost in two of the country's most recent mass shootings: Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York.

Minister Jessica Stevens & Pastor Tim Burchill did not mince words about the need for action from elected leaders to try and prevent more tragedies from becoming reality.

They spoke about common-sense gun control measures along with ensuring mental health resources are readily available to the community.

They're urging everyone to reach out to elected leaders to get them to take action.

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"I know we keep saying 'never again, never again,' but we just have to make sure as a community we come together and come up with a plan and take action on what needs to be done to address this," Adam Assen, a Carmel city councilman, said.

Assen was there as a councilman and a concerned parent.

"Over the last two decades, people have sent their kids off to school and the kids haven't come back. No one should have to worry about that when they send their kid to school," he said.

For many kids, including Stevens', Wednesday was their last day of school.

"I was just praying they would be safe," Stevens said. "It's something that parents have to think about on a regular basis. Are my children going to be safe? Are they going to be protected when I'm not with them and we don't know."

However, she points out that Carmel Clay's policies do give her some peace of mind.

"Every time I go in, they know me, but they still have to buzz me in, they still check my ID, verify my name," she said.

But Stevens knows the schools can only do so much. She hopes state and federal leaders see the anguish and pain shootings like this cause and decide to take action.