EL PASO, Texas — Greg Zanis spent more than 20 hours on the road, driving the hundreds of miles from Chicago to El Paso to honor the victims who were killed in Saturday's mass shooting.
It's a journey he's made too many times in more than 20 years.
"You probably don't know that I'm the guy that does these every single homicide since Columbine," Zanis said. "We just had a 20-year anniversary, and it's just not stopping."
Zanis spent Monday morning putting the final touches on the crosses, carefully spelling out each name. The trained carpenter began Crosses for Losses in 1997, and in the years since, he's paid tribute to the victims killed in tragedies - totaling more than 27,000 crosses.
"It's a dreadful thing I'm doing here; it's not like I go home and look at your papers anymore," Zanis said.
As Zanis put the final touches on his crosses Monday morning, hospital officials raised the death toll to 22. Zanis offered a message to the grieving El Paso community - to spread love and share hugs in tragic times like these.
"I just want you to know in El Paso here - you are our family. You are going to be bonding like never before. Meaning not just your victims; your victims are your family today."