Godmother of Goshen mass shooting victim speaks out before press conference

 

GOSHEN, Ind. --- Family, friends, and neighbors are still in shock after the shooting that took two lives on Rosemare Court in Goshen on Saturday afternoon. Those that knew the people involved in the shooting never expected such violent crime like this to happen to them.

“She’s like, ‘they went to my house and shot up my house’, and I’m like ‘what?'" recalls Mercedes Chiquito, close family friend and godmother to a victim. "Like out of everybody, she was the last person you would ever think something like this would ever happen to.”

“It was more shocking because this was a kid that I knew, went to high school with, graduated with, and I even hung out with him," says a neighbor and friend of the victims.

Mercedes Chiquito recalls when she had found about the tragedy, and she says she is still in disbelief.

“And I said, ‘what do you mean they took him?’ and she’s like, ‘he’s gone,'" tearfully recalls Chiquito. "And I can’t even say it anymore because I’m hoping he is still in the hospital or somewhere.”

Chiquito decided to help out by taking care of funeral arrangements and stepping up to care for the others who survived.

“I said ‘don’t worry about her, just tell me what hospital she’s at, I’m going to be on my way,'" said Chiquito to the victims' mother. "I was in shock. As a godmother, your role is when in times like this, you know, if mom gets sick or she needs something, I’m there for her and I guess this is when it gets to the test."

Chiquito and other loved ones hope that with Monday's press conference, city leaders are able to make a change that puts a stop to gun violence in Goshen. They want the focus to be on preventing crime, rather than reacting to it after the fact.

“Bringing up mental health and those kind of issues would be really beneficial," suggests a neighbor. "Because I mean, yeah we could talk about gun control all day but, we’re still going to see people getting guns.”

“It makes you think. Could they have done something, and by instinct?" Chiquito says. "Not by paperwork, or not by ‘the law says this’,  what is the law? Who’s going to be accountable for this?”

Right now police say that this was a targeted attack, and there is no danger to the community. It may turn out to be a murder/suicide involving one victim's ex-boyfriend.

Chiquto has made a fundraiser for one of the victim's via Facebook, which can be found here.