MERRILLVILLE | Remembering the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting was something members of Descent of the Holy Ghost Orthodox Church thought "just needed to be done," parish council President John Cutean said.
On Sunday, a memorial service took place at the church on 61st Avenue.
Members of the church council decided last week to have the service for the 32 people killed by a gunman at the Virginia university and invited veteran Hammond police Detective Lt. Bob Merchant to lecture on ways to prevent similar shootings in Indiana.
The Rev. Adrian Fetea asked the congregation to pray for the souls of those killed in the shooting and said the country needed to unite across regional and class lines to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again.
Merchant said that based on figures for the 2005-06 fiscal year, Indiana had a slightly higher-than-average rate of gun violence. It is possible for police presence to provide security at high schools, where the environment is closed and officials have more authority over the students.
College campuses, many of which have their own police forces, present a difficult challenge for police, Merchant said.
Most college campuses are open and, because the students are adults, they are free to come and go as they please. You cannot simply arrest or forcibly commit someone to a psychological examination without proof they are a danger to themselves or others, Merchant said.
"People have their rights," he said, adding that everyone is entitled to due process under the law.
He said part of the problem is that many people who need psychological treatment do not get it and instead end up in jail or on the street because the system is overloaded.
"They should not go to jail, they should go to a psychological facility," he said.
After the service, the small congregation retired to the church hall for lunch.
As parishioners waited, 14-year-old Natalie Morgavan said she was saddened by the shooting but that it has not shaken her faith.
"God has a purpose for everything," she said.
Her mother, Gail Morgavan, considering the day four years from now when Natalie will go off to college, admitted the shooting also has shaken her.
"It's scary out there," she said.
