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Photo by Andrew Menjivar/KHTS Radio.

Memorializing Saugus High Shooting Victims

In the nine months since the Saugus High shooting, the families of the children who were killed have done their best to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives.

On Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019, 14-year-old Dominic Blackwell and 15-year-old Gracie Muehlberger were shot and killed by another student before his own death in a tragic event that also injured three others.

“It really hurts that he never got to live to see his full potential and that he was just taken in a place that should have been safe for him,” said Frank Blackwell of his son’s death. “It’s really sad, and it’s not right that it happened, and that it happened that way. Just everything that we had to deal with that day and the days following and months and what we’re going to have to deal with later on. It is very difficult for us.”

Dominic’s best friend, Mia Tretta, survived one gunshot wound to her lower abdomen,

Gracie’s best friend, Addison Koegle, survived two gunshot wounds, one to the shoulder and the other to her lower abdomen.

In a video tribute released shortly after the shooting, Addison recalled her longtime friendship with Gracie, and a newfound friendship with Dominic that was born out of their freshman year at Saugus.

“I have known Gracie Ann Muehlberger for six amazing years, and I know pretty much everything about her,” Addison said in the video. “I’ve only known Dom since about September, but it’s felt like a lifetime because we became such fast friends.”

For both families, the devastating impact of Gracie and Dominic’s deaths has been felt not only as the loss of a child, or a best friend, but as the loss of a sibling.

See Related: Family Of Gracie Muehlberger Remembers Her Life Before Saugus High Shooting

Gracie’s brother, who had been on campus when his little sister was shot, was devastated by the news, and shared that he and Gracie had not said goodbye to one another that morning due to the rush to arrive at school on time.

“I think as a parent, there’s always the fear that you’ll lose a child, that’s the worst fear a parent has,” said Gracie’s father, Bryan Muehlberger. “But you always think that its going to be something in the order of magnitude of they get a disease, they get a health condition, maybe they are killed in a car accident, maybe they commit suicide… This is not even on the list, and this has now happened to us.”

Heartbreakingly, one of Dominic’s younger brothers began having nightmares. He confessed to his mother Nancy that he felt guilty that he was unable to be there to protect Dominic, to push him aside and save him.

Dominic Blackwell Brothers 0805020

Photo courtesy of the Blackwell Family

“When he told me that, I just cried with him in his bed, because I feel guilt too. I’m (Dominic’s) mother, and I feel like I should have been there to protect him, to comfort him, but I never thought my 11-year-old would feel like that,” Nancy said. “He’s had nightmares, our now 6-year-old says that he didn’t want to go to high school because of the ‘bad people’ there. I don’t know if he’ll have those same thoughts as he gets older… we’re not there yet.”

Nancy shared that she personally would prefer if her younger children attend a different high school, as she has not returned to Saugus once in the past nine months since her son died.

“It’s something I’m working towards, but I think (Derek) wants to go, maybe to finish out something that his brother never got to do, so I don’t want to impede on his grieving process,” she said. “So maybe that is something that will help him, and that’s something I have to deal with.”

Dominic’s youngest brother was less than six months old when Dominic died, and will never know his older sibling through anything but photos and stories from family members.

“We just always have that missing part of our family now,” Nancy said. “It’s hard to see them grow up, and not Dominic. “

See Related: Remembering Dominic Blackwell: Before The Saugus High Shooting

For Gracie, a little girl who dreamed of her name being known around the world, her death and the impact of her loss resulted in a tragically ironic realization of her aspirations.

“Gracie, she just always wanted to be famous, it’s crazy right,” her mother Cindy said. “She just, she wanted all these followers, she wanted to be big on YouTube and just be known, and it’s crazy now that… she’s forever.”

“In some sad surreal way, people know her name now,” Bryan finished.

“Yeah,” Cindy agreed. “Our job as parents, until our last breath, is just to make change and have Gracie Strong be the voice to help kids that struggle to speak up. It’s so important for kids to speak up when they notice something that’s off, to tell somebody. We’re going to be working on this until our last days.”

Now, the two families are campaigning to have Central Park dedicated in honor of their children. The park served as the reunification site for parents and children immediately after the shooting.

It was where the Blackwells spent three hours searching for Dominic. It was the site of the first memorials in honor of Gracie and Dominic. And it was where thousands of Santa Clarita residents gathered to attend a vigil for the shooting.

The coming together the night of the vigil embodies the spirit of the community of Santa Clarita, a special and wholly unique experience that Bryan stated he doubted could happen in any other community he had lived in.

“I remember at one point in the vigil there was the glow stick moment,” he said.

Two individuals with electronic candles in the air, blue ribbons tied around the plastic candlestick – David Melnarik / KHTS News

“I remember standing on the chair… and looking out across this sea of thousands of people, all holding these glow sticks, just showing their love and support for us and these families that have been impacted by the situation in a way that I’ve never experienced in my life.”

The Muehlbergers and Blackwells have created a petition to dedicate Central Park in memory of their children. Their desire is to ensure that nobody ever forgets their children’s impact on this community and to have the City Council vote and approve the dedication of the park from its current name of “Central Park”  to “Central Park – In Memoriam of Gracie Muehlberger and Dominic Blackwell.”

For Nancy, having to return to Central Park with her younger children to ride their bikes or to attend practices is always haunted by the memories of the hours she spent there searching for Dominic after shooting, all while he spent his last hours on an operating table.

“I see that everytime I go there,” she said. “So I think it would be nice for us as parents, and for those parents who were in that same boat that we were in, to have something positive come out of this.”

See Related: Families Of Saugus Shooting Victims Recount Day That Changed Their Lives

Bryan Muehlberger and Frank Blackwell stated that they plan to speak during the City Council meeting on Aug. 25 in order to try and get the dedication approved in honor of Gracie and Dominic.

According to the City Council Agenda, there are a variety of options under consideration for memorializing the Saugus High School shooting, including dedicating Central Park in Gracie and Dominic’s honor; renaming a different City park, constructing a memorial at the entrance to Central Park, expanding the current Youth Grove to include a separate memorial, identifying a different site at Central Park for a memorial, or designing a memorial to be placed in a future expansion of Central Park.

Muehlberger noted previously that although the City has potentially offered one of the 34 other City parks in the community, the families agree that Central Park holds the most significance from the events immediately after the shooting.

For more information on the Gracie Strong Foundation, the Dominic Michael Blackwell Foundation, or their mission to give back to the community, visit the websites. You can also learn more about their efforts to dedicate Central Park in honor of Gracie and Dominic at dedicatecentralpark.com.

To watch the City Council Meeting on Aug. 25 at 6 p.m., visit the City of Santa Clarita Facebook Page.

This is Part 4 in a series about the Muehlberger and Blackwell families in the aftermath of the Saugus High School Shooting.


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Memorializing Saugus High Shooting Victims

3 comments

  1. It’s sad that this happened so put a Plaque at Saugus High there is no need to Rename Central Park for them. If you’re going to rename Central Park do it in the name of a Veteran.

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About Jade Aubuchon

A Santa Clarita native, Jade has spent her whole life involved in community outreach. After graduating from Learning Post High in 2015, she went on to College of the Canyons to pursue a double major in English and Marketing. Jade spent several years as a ballroom dance performer for a local studio and has performed at public and private events throughout Santa Clarita. As KHTS Co-News Director Jade oversees the KHTS news team, which covers all the latest news impacting Santa Clarita. Along with covering and writing her own news stories, Jade can be heard broadcasting the daily local news every weekday morning and afternoon drive-time twice an hour on KHTS 98.1FM and AM-1220. Jade is also instrumental in reporting on-the-scene local emergencies, covering them on-air and via Facebook Live and YouTube. Another dimension to Jade’s on-air skills and writing are her regular political and celebrity interviews, including her bi-monthly interview with our Congressman Mike Garcia and many other local politicians and community leaders.