Red Lake Grads Offer Support In Newtown, Conn.

RED LAKE, Minn. (WCCO/AP) — A group of young adults from Minnesota with a keen understanding of the pain felt in Newtown, Conn., traveled to the East Coast to let those affected by the elementary school massacre know that they are not alone.

The 2008 graduates of Red Lake Senior High School know the heartbreak and loss felt in Newtown following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that took 20 young lives and 6 adults.

In 2005, a 16-year-old student went on a shooting spree on the Ojibwe Red Lake Reservation. Seven people were killed at the high school. The gunman's grandfather and his grandfather's girlfriend were also fatally shot.

Ten graduates, including two who were wounded, drove to Newtown to pass on a plaque featuring a dream catcher and feathers. It was given to them from students who survived the 1999 Columbine School Shooting. The group also presented flags and performed a tribal ceremony for the Sandy Hook Elementary victims.

Former Red Lake High School student Justin Jordan says the graduates know how difficult it is to live through such a tragedy.

"We know what everyone around here is going through. It's hard to deal with," Jordan said. "We're down here to see what we can do to help. I know it means a lot when people show up that knows what they're going through."

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