Hundreds of mourners attended a funeral Friday for a teen boy who was fatally gunned down in the Apalachee High School shooting earlier this month.
Around 600 people packed into St. Matthew Catholic Church in Winder, Ga., for the emotional Mass in honor of Christian Angulo, 14, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The funeral was the fourth and final service for the victims of the Sept. 4 shooting, which also killed two teachers and another 14-year-old student.
Another teacher and eight students were wounded.
Angulo’s service was performed in English and Spanish.
His parents are immigrants from Mexico, and the funeral drew many members of the Hispanic community, the Journal-Constitution said.
“These events have forever changed this community,” Atlanta Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer said in his homily.
“This tragedy was not God’s plan for Christian. Our focus is on the beams of love that shone from Christian’s all too short life,” he added.
“Despite our sadness, we are invited to celebrate the love and tenderness, the kindness and compassion, the joy and the laughter that were so characteristic of Christian’s life.”
Members of the Angulo’s family did not speak during the service, but many wore shirts with a photo of the slain teen along with the words, “Our angel in heaven. Your wings were ready, our hearts were not.”
Those in the audience became visibly emotional, with several of the mourners dabbing their eyes throughout the service.
Some attendees wore shirts that read, “Apalachee strong.”
The suspect in the shooting, Colt Gray, 14, has been charged with four counts of felony murder in connection with the tragedy.
His father, Colin, 54, has also been charged with second-degree murder for giving his son the AK-style weapon that the teen allegedly used to open fire as a Christmas gift, months after the teen was accused of making school shooting threats.
Gray surrendered to school resource officers at the scene, just moments after the first shots were fired.
He was found to have boarded the school bus that morning with the semiautomatic rifle in his backpack.
A private funeral was held earlier this week for math teacher and football coach Richard Aspinwall, 39.
Math teacher Cristina Irimie, 53, and Mason Schermerhorn, 14, were honored at separate services on Sept. 14.
With Post wires
