RUTLAND, Vt. -
With tears in their eyes, and a prayer in their heart, Rutland residents gathered to share in their grief following the tragic loss of 17-year-old Carly Ferro. She was killed in a chain reaction crash while leaving her after school job.
Reporter Deanna LeBlanc: What's the talk been like the past few days? "Mostly of shock. and people not believing it could happen here. and the tragedy of the whole situation," responded Lynne Walsh, of Rutland's United Neighborhoods.
Though some who gathered Monday night never knew Carly, many were at the scene of the crash, or have loved ones who need their support.
Karen Macauley of Rutland Mental Health was on hand to help. "The reality is -- we don't know why, we can point to the causes in terms of what the young man was going through, but why her? Why now? You know. She was full of life," Macauley said.
School officials, like Northwest school principal Suzanne Fangels, offered ways for the community to cope, "What we can do is support each other and try to understand certain things. We try to understand grief, we know how to help our neighbors, we know how to help our kids."
Police say an out of control driver high from huffing caused the wreck.
"It's all out of our control. What I have control of is how my kids react to these situations," said one person in attendance.
While it was made clear at the beginning of the meeting inside the Northwest School that the purpose of the meeting was only to talk about emotions tied to this tragic loss, it wasn't long before the conversation turned to feelings of frustration at the growing drug related crime rate inside the city.
One man said, "I have growing mental stress about the growing crime rate in Rutland. Help me out."
Police did not offer any solutions to that Monday. But say they're working on it and will have answers soon. They're also considering whether two passengers in the suspect's vehicle will be held accountable.
"I think there's a lot of conversation in the community. I hear it. I see it on the social networking sites," said Rutland City Police Chief James Baker. "People are concerned that the other two people inside the car have not been charged."
Baker didn't go so far as to say charges are anticipated, but said both city and state police are working to make sure they "get this done right."
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