EL PASO, Texas – As El Paso continues to mourn, people from out of state are now coming in to offer condolences. One of those people has been going to mass shooting locations for decades, bringing handmade crosses with him.

  • “Crosses for Losses” started in 1997
  • First mass shooting group went to was Columbine
  • Going to Dayton next

Greg Zanis has made thousands of crosses for people across the country. In 2016, he was in Orlando at the Pulse Night Club. A little over a year later he went to Sutherland Springs, TX.

Now the leader of “Crosses for Losses” is back in Texas to leave more in honor of those killed in the El Paso mass shooting.

Zanis first made crosses for the victims of Columbine. He’s since been to numerous mass shootings across the country paying his respects.

Zanis and his friend drove 22 hours from Chicago to El Paso when they heard the news. But he will soon leave El Paso even more heartbroken because next he and his team will be on their way to Ohio.

“We woke up yesterday morning to hear this again. Makes you not even want to get up from bed in the morning,” Zanis said.

Dawn Valenti is another “Crosses for Losses” organizer. While she’s from Chicago, her son lives in El Paso. She said she called him immediately when she heard the news and breathed a huge sigh of relief when she heard his voice on the other end.

But Valenti knows so many people won’t hear the voices of their loved ones again, that is why she came to pay tribute.

“To come here and see this, it’s really heartbreaking. This is really something. This is not America. This is not supposed to happen here. You’re supposed to shop and walk in the store without having this happen,” said Valenti.

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