Several students on Saturday gathered at the university for a vigil, where music was played and prayers were said
Two parents from Broward County rushed to Florida State University to make sure their daughter was OK following a deadly mass shooting on Thursday.
Several students on Saturday gathered at the university for a vigil, where music was played and prayers were said.
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WATCH HEREThe mother of 18-year-old Jennifer Jenkins was at the vigil with her daughter and spoke to NBC6.
"So she sent us a text and said she was fine, physically, but emotionally, as parents, we drove up," Jacqueline Jenkins said. "I needed to make sure my daughter was OK."
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Jacqueline and her husband live in Broward.
Jennifer is a freshman at FSU and is studying music. She was in her dorm when the chaos unfolded.
The parents rushed to Tallahassee after hearing about the mass shooting.
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"To have her so far away from home, I couldn’t just put my hand on her to make sure she was okay," Jacqueline said. "As a parent, some of us drove a little faster than we needed to, to get here because there were no flights available."
"I'm just grateful that I have my parents here to lift my spirits in such a dark time," Jennifer said.
The Jenkins' also lived down the street from Marjory Stoneman Douglas when that school shooting happened in 2018.
"So for them to have to live through that once in a lifetime is bad enough, but now they have to have it here," Jacqueline said.
Moved by Thursday's shooting, the Jenkins' went to Saturday's vigil, where candles flicker for the lives lost. Each flame was a reminder of how quickly everything can change."
"And I think all of us are concerned that we live in a world where they have to worry about this," Jacqueline said.
FSU President Richard McCullough announced that classes and university operations will resume on Monday.
