Family, friends and community members gathered on Sunday to take part in celebrating the life of a 13-year-old boy from Norwood, Massachusetts, who was killed last weekend in nearby Boston.
At one point there were so many people who showed up to offer their condolences to Tyler Lawrence's family that a line stretched all the way down from the door to the event to the street. Blue pins and sweatshirts were seen on attendees with Tyler's name.
Tyler died Sunday morning in what officials have called a "targeted" shooting in broad daylight in Boston's Mattapan neighborhood. His mother spoke Tuesday near the scene of the shooting, making an emotional plea for change.
"Everybody in this city should be outraged! And if you're not, what's wrong?" said Remy Lawrence. "I just left a funeral home for my 13-year-old son!"
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Tyler's family has said the teen was going on a walk after leaving his grandparents' house when he was fatally shot about a block away.
"He was walking," Remy Lawrence said. "He was walking because he wanted to go for a walk."
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Tyler lived in Norwood, where he was a sixth-grade student at Coakley Middle School.
Classmates have shared how much he will be missed,
"It felt like a dream at first, but then I realized it isn't a dream. It's real. And he's really gone," one girl said.
The Norwood Superintendent of Schools issued a statement on Tuesday offering condolences to Tyler's family, friends and loved ones "following this senseless tragedy."
There have been no arrests in Tyler's death. Police say the investigation is active and ongoing.
