The VTA community came together on Thursday to mourn the workers killed in a mass shooting a year ago and to find a path to healing.

Speaking at the Guadalupe Light Rail Yard in downtown San Jose shortly after dawn, General Manager and CEO Carolyn Gonot addressed a group of workers and families who lost loved ones during the May 26, 2021 mass shooting. Calling it the most tragic day in VTA history, Gonot said the attack shattered families and devastated the agency.

“We will miss our colleagues who died on that horrific day a year ago, and what happened is truly unthinkable,” Gonot said, adding that the 10 men who died in the attack will never be remembered. forgotten. “We can together make VTA a better place to remember them and the community we serve.”

The attack happened in the early hours of May 26, 2021 when Samuel Cassidy, a disgruntled 57-year-old VTA employee, opened fire on co-workers in the rail yard building. The shooter, who had a history of insubordination and altercations with colleagues, was reportedly upset over pay and other issues. Nine workers died in the attack. The shooter committed suicide shortly after law enforcement arrived. A 10th VTA worker, who battled PTSD after the attack, died by suicide months later.

The agency honored workers with 10 candles lit from a memorial flame created by a group of members of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 265. A woman started moaning when the candles were lit.

John Courtney, president and business officer for ATU Local 265 and a survivor of the attack, said the planes roaring above the rail yard were the spirits of workers watching the crowds, s’ making sure they were okay.

Courtney said he was grateful for some of the steps VTA has taken over the past year to help the workforce heal. But he stressed that the agency must do more to protect workers from assault and injury, and to ensure that perpetrators of such violence are punished. He also hinted at bigger issues plaguing the agency.

“Systemically, we’re up against a monster at VTA that wasn’t created overnight,” Courtney said. “It’s not going to be settled in a year. But god, it’s gonna be fixed if it’s the last thing we do.

San José Spotlight spoke with a worker who was at the rail yard during the attack last year. The worker, who requested anonymity to avoid retaliation, said he remembered the chaos and fear clearly. He clings to text messages and voicemails from a friend who died in the attack, and he struggles to get on with his life.

“For me, it’s never gone, it’s never behind me,” the worker said. “I think about it every day, when I come to work or when I’m at home.”

“I shouldn’t be here”

At a public memorial service later that day, local officials, law enforcement, VTA workers and residents broke down in tears as Karrey Benbow, mother of victim Jose Luis Hernandez III, climbed up on stage in front of the 526 Resiliency Center to talk about her son. The center was built with public funds after the attack to help VTA workers and families with mental health issues.

“I shouldn’t be here,” Benbow said through tears to the crowd of over 100. “It could have been avoided if people had listened to the complaints of my son and colleagues who are not here today.”

Benbow said she still remembers the last time she saw her son, who took her for a ride on a motorcycle. Benbow wore the same outfit she wore that day at the memorial services.

“I spent six hours with my son, not knowing that was the last time I was going to hug him and kiss him goodbye,” she said, asking if VTA could create a scholarship to honor Hernandez’s dedication to the transit agency. “I would have given anything to take those bullets for him.”

At the service, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen honored first responders, including deputies from the Santa Clara County Sheriff‘s Office, San Jose Police and Fire Departments and Departments emergency medical personnel who responded to the shooting.

“A year ago today, these heroes rushed, sirens on, toward the sound of gunfire at the VTA rail yard,” Rosen said. “That day they showed the courage and the compassion, the selflessness that they frankly show every day and night in our community.”

Courtney, who escaped the shooting after six others were shot, said the law enforcement officers who came through the doors of the VTA building were heroes.

“As I walked away from a place of such horror, real heroes rushed into this place,” Courtney said. “I get goosebumps just thinking about this morning.”

Local officials – who have spearheaded a number of policies and initiatives in hopes of reducing gun violence – have urged VTA workers, law enforcement and their loved ones to seek support services in the new resilience center on Julian Street.

“It’s not a sign of weakness to ask for the support you need to come back and do what you’re doing,” Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez said. “The Resilience Center is here to reflect our deep and abiding respect for all of you and for victims of crime.”

Contact Eli Wolfe at [email protected] or @EliWolfe4 on Twitter. Contact Tran Nguyen at [email protected] or follow @nguyenntrann on Twitter.