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Survivors of Cleveland Elementary School remember 30-year anniversary of mass shooting

Thursday marks 30 years since the Cleveland Elementary School shootings in Stockton that killed five students, wounding 32 others.

STOCKTON, Calif. — Hundreds of people came together at the Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium to remember the 30-year anniversary of Cleveland Elementary School shootings. 

Survivors of the shooting including former students of the school spoke. 

Judy Weldon was a teacher at Cleveland Elementary School on January 17, 1989. That's the day when 24-year-old Patrick Purdy walked on the campus and began shooting.

Five children were killed that day, and 32 others were wounded.

Weldon has not forgotten a single moment.

"A teacher came running in shouting that they are shooting out into the yard and they immediately locked down the office," Weldon said. "Some of the teacher's aids were already carrying children through the classroom, out the door, onto the yard where they did the triage."

Weldon said when she went back into her classroom all the students were standing right behind their chairs. She said it was something surreal since they only did that to salute the flag.

"They were in shock cause they just fled the bullets," Weldon said. "Nobody said anything. It was very quiet. So I started talking to them."

She said it was something so unexpected and unheard during that time. It was the largest school shooting in America that year.

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"It was monstrous," Weldon said. "It was gigantic. We had newspaper articles come to us. We had letters come to us from Germany, from France, from all over the world because nothing like this could ever happen in peace time."

She didn't think another school shooting so similar could happen until Sandy Hook.

"Some of us were retired at the time, so we had more time," Weldon said. "And we decided that we just could not stand by and let these kinds of events happen, because in 1989, we thought that was gonna be a one-time event. 

"It was horrible. Who would think that could ever occur ever again in any venue? And then we see it happening in theaters, in churches, now in huge concerts."

Julie Schart, another retired Cleveland Elementary School teacher, said she felt she had to take action, too.

"We got together to shed tears and then somebody said, 'What are we gonna do about it?'" Schart remembered. "And it seemed to make sense and make a difference somehow." 

They came out of retirement with a mission of spreading gun violence protection.

"We want to have a sane society," Weldon said. "We want a healthy society. We don't want to go to the church or a movie theater in fear. It's almost gotten to that point."

They want change, and that includes universal background checks.

They want to honor lives lost to gun violence and the children killed in the shootings 30 years ago. During the anniversary gathering, they also remembered people who have lost their lives to gun violence in a video.

Continue the conversation with Ananda on Facebook.

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