Springfield Vermont News: Residents still in fear after vigil held for shooting victim

Residents on Sunday evening held a vigil near the site of last week’s fatal shooting on South Street, lending support to the family of Wesley Wing and pledging to address the challenges of drugs and violence facing their town.
http://www.vnews.com/home/16669958-95/community-holds-vigil-for-victim

Residents Still in Fear After Vigil Held for Springfield, Vt., Shooting Victim Terry Wing embraces Springfield police officer Doug Johnston during a community vigil held in memory of Wing's son, Wesley, on South Street in Springfield, Vt., on Sunday, April 26, 2015. Wing was shot on South Street on April 18, 2015, and later died from his injuries. (Valley News - Sarah Shaw)

Terry Wing embraces Springfield police officer Doug Johnston during a community vigil held in memory of Wing's son, Wesley, on South Street in Springfield, Vt., on Sunday, April 26, 2015. Wing was shot on South Street on April 18, 2015, and later died from his injuries. (Valley News - Sarah Shaw) Copyright © Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Purchase photo reprints » Terry Wing embraces Springfield police officer Doug Johnston during a community vigil held in memory of Wing's son, Wesley, on South Street in Springfield, Vt., on Sunday, April 26, 2015. Wing was shot on South Street on April 18, 2015, and later died from his injuries. (Valley News - Sarah Shaw)

Michele Thomas, right, comforts her nieces, Brooke Wing, 16, and Annalese Wing, 8, during a vigil held in memory of Brooke's and Annalese's father, Wesley Wing, on South Street in Springfield, Vt., on Sunday, April 26, 2015. Wesley Wing was shot on South Street on April 18, 2015, and later died from his injuries. (Valley News - Sarah Shaw)

Michele Thomas, left, comforts her sister, Sheila Wing, during a community vigil held in memory of Wing's husband, Wesley, on South Street in Springfield, Vt., on Sunday, April 26, 2015. Wesley Wing was shot on South Street on April 18, 2015, and later died from his injuries. (Valley News - Sarah Shaw)

From left, Falon Childs, Melanie Childs and Aida Pluss, all of Springfield, Vt., help prepare candles before the community vigil held in memory of Wesley Wing on South Street in Springfield, Vt., on Sunday, April 26, 2015. (Valley News - Sarah Shaw)

By Rob Wolfe Valley News Staff Writer Monday, April 27, 2015 (Published in print: Monday, April 27, 2015) Springfield, Vt. — Residents on Sunday evening held a vigil near the site of last week’s fatal shooting on South Street, lending support to the family of Wesley Wing and pledging to address the challenges of drugs and violence facing their town. About 200 people lit candles in the twilight, assembled in a semicircle less than 30 yards from where the shooting occurred, on the corner of South Street and Cheryl Lane. The Wing family stood in the center of the arc as town officials and local members of the clergy led the group in song and prayer. Partly in response to last summer’s nonfatal shooting on Summer Street, which police say was related to a dispute over heroin, town leaders in January kicked off Project ACTION, a committee looking into the community’s struggles with drugs and violence. Members of the group met last Wednesday and will convene again on Tuesday. Trevor Hanbridge, a member of Project ACTION who lives just down the road, said he attended the vigil because “it was the right thing to do, for one.” “This is people coming out and facing fear,” he said, as opposed to last week, when “people were retreating behind locked doors, calling friends and saying, ‘I don’t feel safe.’ ” Selectboard Chairman Kristi Morris spoke briefly in remembrance of Wing, and invited those in attendance to follow him on a walk around the neighborhood. The marchers made a figure eight around the apartments across from Cheryl Lane, past the Jake’s Market where Wing ran for help after he was shot last Saturday, around a residential neighborhood up the road, and back to the grocery store. There, residents milled about, embracing and chatting, as a crowd gathered around the family of the deceased. Two relatives led away Sheila Wing, Wesley Wing’s widow, holding her around the waist as they walked back to the Wing home. After a brief rendition of This Little Light of Mine, the crowd slowly dispersed. A small group continued the procession down the road to the Wings’ neighborhood. Approached by a reporter, a member of the family declined to comment on Sunday, saying she was satisfied with her recent statements to the news media. Morris said the event was planned by members of Project Action with permission from the family to commemorate Wing and to show “neighborhood solidarity.” “He was not afraid,” Morris said of Wing. “He stood up. The community needs to stand up.” Morris’ comments on Wing, as well as those of many other attendees, referred to the Wing family’s account of the incident. In interviews with police, Sheila Wing said her husband had argued with Wendy Morris, a girlfriend of Gregory A. Smith, who has been charged in the shooting. “Wing advised that her husband was making a scene, called Morris a heroin addict and told Morris to get her drugs out of the neighborhood,” Springfield Police Department Detective Sgt. Patrick Call wrote in an affidavit. Smith, the Wing family says, heard of the confrontation and pursued and shot Wing. Last week, police charged Smith, 30, with second-degree murder, to which he pleaded not guilty in Windsor Superior Court on Friday. The family’s neighbors across the street, Norman and Carleen Clark, took the same view of Wing as Morris, the Selectboard chairman, had. “He saw illegal activity, he confronted it, and it cost him his life,” Norman Clark said as he walked home on Sunday. “He is a hero.” Whether or not Wing’s example may serve as encouragement to those wishing to clean up the town, “It opened my eyes,” Clark said. “It certainly did that.” Carleen Clark, who said she knew Sheila Wing but not her husband, said that despite the vigil, “It’s still a terrible loss.” Clark said she worried for Sheila, and still felt unsafe in the neighborhood, where Smith’s girlfriend lived. Police say they found bullets in the girlfriend’s Lark Lane home matching shell casings at the scene of the shooting, as well as heroin paraphernalia. “I can see their house out my front window,” Clark said of the Wings’ home on Cardinal Drive, “and out my back window, (Smith’s).” A printed program distributed at the vigil said that Wesley Wing’s funeral will be held on April 28 at the United Methodist Church in Springfield. The flier asked mourners to send flowers and donations meant for the family to the church.

Springfield Vermont News

Monday, April 27, 2015

Residents still in fear after vigil held for shooting victim

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