ALLEN — Not long after sunrise Monday, the outlet mall still mostly empty, a steel sculpture appeared with little fanfare or ceremony.
The artwork — a memorial to those killed in the mass shooting here one year ago — is set on a bed of rocks surrounded by seasonal plants. Curving pieces of steel resemble wings, reaching toward the sky.
A temporary nameplate reads “Always Remembered. May 6, 2023,” and will soon be replaced by a permanent bronze plaque. At the top, eight heavy wind chimes sway in the breeze, each representing a life lost:
Cindy Cho. James Cho. Kyu Cho. Elio Cumana-Rivas. Christian LaCour. Daniela Mendoza. Sofia Mendoza. Aishwarya Thatikonda.
Nebraska-based artist Matthew Placzek said in a statement the memorial “is a vessel for quiet reflection. The chimes’ “soft tones will serve as a serene and contemplative reminder of the lives that endure through the memories of loved ones and the Allen community.”
The memorial is at the northwest corner of the mall, near the West Elm Outlet and Fatburger, where some customers hid a year ago as a gunman opened fire on a busy Saturday afternoon. Seven others were wounded in the shooting.
A few miles away, at Cheri Cox Elementary School in Sachse, children hoisted shovels Monday to break ground on the planned Mendoza Legacy Park honoring sisters Daniela, 11, and Sofia, 8.
Visible from the street, the garden will feature a round walkway, flanked by benches shaped like butterflies. Plans call for a bird feeder to symbolize Daniela’s generosity and a tiny free library named for Sofia because she dreamed of owning her own. A tree will sprout from the middle of the park, which will be open to the community.
“The girls had such an impact on not only our school, but our community,” said teacher Stephanie Green, who led the project. “We wanted to build a space for the entire community.”
Amid an epidemic of gun violence, mass shooting memorials like these have become a fixture in the U.S.
Some open only months later, as is the case of the shooting at an El Paso Walmart in 2019. Others, such as at Sandy Hook Elementary, open years later. No playbook exists, and each community responds differently.
In Uvalde, artists painted giant murals downtown of the 19 students and two teachers killed in the 2022 Robb Elementary shooting, and community members are considering adding a permanent memorial downtown.
At First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, where a gunman killed more than two dozen people in 2017, artists and contractors transformed the building into a chilling memorial with 26 white chairs — including one for the unborn baby of a pregnant victim — bearing each victim’s name painted in gold. Church members voted in 2021 to demolish the building due to structural issues and build a memorial in its place.
After a gunman killed 23 people and wounded 22 at a Walmart in El Paso, the store’s headquarters asked SWA Group, a global architecture firm with an office in Dallas, to design a memorial to honor the victims, many of whom were store employees.
Architects Gerdo Aquino, the company’s co-CEO, and Ying-yu Hung, a managing principal, designed the Grand Candela, a 30-foot tower with columns of perforated metal, one for each life lost. During the day, the gold metal shimmers in the sunlight. At night, interior lights make it glow like a candle. The tower, which can be seen from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, opened just three months after the shooting.
When it was unveiled, Hung recalled watching people gently touch the metal, as if connecting with their loved ones.
“This was a way to take some of the weight off,” Aquino said. “It gave people a place to go.”
On Monday, students and teachers at Cox Elementary wore yellow, the girls’ favorite color. They bowed their heads to observe a moment of silence then released more than 100 butterflies, which fluttered around them before flying away.
