Yule Parade Offers Solemn Salute to 3 Slain Teenagers

Tearful residents lined the streets Saturday, turning the city’s Christmas parade into a mournful tribute to the three teenagers gunned down at Heath High School.

The West Paducah school’s band marched in silent tribute, each musician holding a white rose in place of an instrument and accompanied only by a drumbeat.

Another Paducah school had been scheduled to lead the parade but deferred to the Heath students, who were grief-stricken by Monday’s attack in which two other students were partially paralyzed and three suffered lesser injuries.

The school has received e-mail sympathy messages from around the world.

“It touches us tremendously,” said Ron Ruggles, who maintains the school district’s Internet services, “but it can be difficult at times, because you’re sitting there, and it takes a lot out of you to read these.”

Police say Michael Carneal, 14, opened fire on his classmates with a .22-caliber pistol as they wound up their daily informal prayers at Heath High.

Carneal is charged as a juvenile with murder, attempted murder and burglary for allegedly stealing the guns. Prosecutor Timothy Kaltenbach said he will seek the maximum penalty: life without the possibility of parole for 25 years. No one younger than 16 can be executed under Kentucky’s death penalty law.

For today’s church service, the Rev. Paul Donner said he thought it would be appropriate to read from Luke 3:1-6, which tells of John the Baptist’s preparation to spread the word of Jesus Christ.

“His preparation was repentance,” said Donner, pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, whose congregation includes Carneal. “But repentance includes forgiveness, so we’ll be talking a little bit about forgiveness.”

Sources close to the investigation said Carneal has not offered any information that links anyone else with the shooting or helps determine a motive.