VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The 5/31 Memorial Committee is one step closer to honoring the 12 who were killed in the mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center in 2019.
Members say it’s been a long road, but they finally feel like they’re making progress.
"I actually feel like we’re moving forward now, finally," said Jason Nixon, who lost his wife, Kate, in the shooting.
Wednesday night’s meeting centered around possible locations for the memorial and what committee members want people to experience when they visit.
"I want it to resemble the day that Virginia Beach got rocked and how we felt that day," Nixon said.
On Thursday, the group will tour eight potential sites: four at the Municipal Center, along with Princess Anne Commons Gateway Park, Beach Garden Park and Williams Farm Recreation Center.
"I know that we all want to come away with a sense of peace, love and leave people with a good feeling," said Sylvia Nery-Strickland.
The location could ultimately be a place not on this list. The committee all agreed they want to location to be open, safe and accessible.
"What the memorial can capture, what it can convey, the love, the story, the remembrance that our city wants to have in a memorial and I’m hoping that tomorrow when we go to visit those sites we can visualize what that memorial might look like," Charlotte Zito said.
They say ultimately, the memorial is about remembrance, honoring those impacted and healing -- and the location needs to capture that.
"We want to make it the best that we can in remembrance of those that lost their lives and those that are survivors," said Nery-Strickland.
The consensus among the committee members is that they want to get this memorial right. For the victims, survivors, family members and the community.
The tour on Thursday is open to the public and it begins at 2:30 p.m. You can follow the bus from The Hive in Town Center and follow them to all eight sites.