SAN ANTONIO — Rev. Dr. Kenneth Kemp said he wishes his Antioch Missionary Baptist Church had a balloon for every person who is a victim of a mass shooting.
But there are too many victims.
"It is just so awful that some people feel justified---that they can do this thing," Kemp said.
Kemp's church held a balloon release Wednesday morning to honor the victims of mass shootings. The tribute idea came from Deacon Jeffery Conway, who said the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School grieved him to tears.
"Not understanding why these things are happening," Conway said. "And how these people are getting these guns and doing the things that they're doing?"
The grandfather of twenty-eight said he woke up at three in the morning with a God-given vision to honor the children killed and teachers killed in Uvalde. Conway also wanted to pay homage to the ten victims who were murdered in a suspected hate-fueled mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York grocery store.
"We know that God knows and sees all," he said. "And although I can't do anything about it---but, I know that if I pray, the lord will eventually step in and intervene."
Wednesday morning the church's parking lot filled up with members, San Antonio police officers, Bexar County Deputy constables, city leaders, pastors, and community members. They got maroon, white, and black balloons. Some white balloons were shaped like doves.
"We want to be sure that these children are never forgotten," Kemp said. "And the teachers who sacrificed their lives to protect them will never be forgotten."
But the list of the dead did not stop in Uvalde and Buffalo; the count climbed with victims from shootings in Milwaukee, Sacramento, and other places marred with mass murder.
"We know about what happened in Laguna woods, California, and we know about what happened in Tulsa," Kemp said.
He even acknowledged the tragedy where more than 50 people got killed at a Catholic Church in Nigeria on Sunday. But Kemp doesn't have an answer for why suspects are choosing to strike the vulnerable in so-called soft targets.
"In medical buildings, churches, schools, grocery stores where people are supposed to be safe," he said.
At Antioch, Kemp said his members are prepared to meet force with force if necessary.
"We feel as safe as we can be under the protection of God and with the assistance of armed security," Kemp said.
Meantime, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg believes state and federal leaders need to do more.
"If leaders at the state and federal level will act and do their jobs. And that's not what's been happening," Nirenberg said. "They've not been making it better. They've not even tried to make it better. They've been actively making it worse. And enough is enough."
Under the soundtrack of Amazing grace played on a tenor saxophone, followed by a prayer of comfort for all the victims left behind from the destruction of mass shootings---400 balloons went skyward from Antioch's parking lot.
"That's going to connect us with Uvalde. Buffalo. All these other places that people have lost their lives," Conway said. "That's our extended hands to them to let them know that we love them. We're praying for 'em."
Kemp said his heart bleeds for a nation, knowing that something different needs to be done.
"We can't allow this to continue," Kemp said.