By Vanesa Brashier, editor@bluebonnetnews.com
Two days after a mass shooting in Cleveland claimed one life and critically injured three others, including a Liberty County sheriff’s deputy, a vigil was held Friday to pray for God’s healing and mercy for the three survivors.
Roughly 50 people – mostly law enforcement officers, firefighters and medics – gathered outside of Cleveland Historical Museum for the vigil, which was organized by Cleveland Ministerial Alliance.
With their hands locked, the attendees formed a circle that surrounded an inner circle where prayers were made by Cleveland Police Chief Darrel Broussard, Sheriff Bobby Rader, Cleveland Mayor Otis Cohn, City Chaplain Lance Blackwell, Cleveland ISD Police Chief Angela Allen, Rev. Carl Williamson with Calvary Baptist Church and Rev. Earl Faust with Cornerstone Church.
“The vigil was all about unity – unity with our first responders and the victims of the shooting,” said Blackwell.
The vigil was attended by representatives of seven different agencies – Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, Liberty County EMS, Cleveland Police Department, Cleveland Fire Department, Dayton Police Department, Cleveland ISD Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety; City Manager Kelly McDonald and City Councilwoman Carolyn McWaters. Smith Towing, which opened up its headquarters on SH 321 between Cleveland and Tarkington on Wednesday as a command post for law enforcement, also was represented by Jesse Burch.
Liberty County Sheriff Bobby Rader was among the inner circle at a vigil on Friday to pray for the victims of a mass shooting that took place Wednesday in the Cleveland area. One of Rader’s deputies, Richard Whitten, was critically injured when he was shot in the neck. 
Dozens of law enforcement officers attended a prayer vigil for the three surviving victims of a shooting incident that took place in Cleveland on Wednesday. A gunman killed one woman and injured two others before getting into an altercation with law enforcement officers. One of the two responding officers, Deputy Richard Whitten, was critically injured when he was shot in the neck. Pictured forming a section of a prayer circle outside of Cleveland Historical Museum on Friday are Cleveland ISD Police Capt. John Shannon and Liberty County Sheriff’s Sgt. Tommy Koen. Shannon was the other officer involved in the exchange of gunfire. Koen is the injured deputy’s supervisor. 
Rev. Carl Williamson with Calvary Baptist Church, City Chaplain Lance Blackwell, Liberty County Sheriff Bobby Rader and Rev. Earl Faust with Cornerstone Church (left to right) gather inside Cleveland Historical Museum on Friday before the start of a vigil to pray for the victims of a mass shooting that took place on Wednesday in the Cleveland area. 
Attendees at a vigil held Friday at Cleveland Historical Museum raise their hands in prayer to God to ask for His mercy and healing for the victims of a shooting on Wednesday in Cleveland that killed one person and seriously injured three others, including a Liberty County sheriff’s deputy. 
Cleveland Police Chief Darrel Broussard calls on God to bless and heal the victims from a shooting that took place on Wednesday in the Cleveland area. 
Roughly 50 people attended a prayer vigil organized by the Cleveland Ministerial Alliance on Friday to pray for the victims of a mass shooting on Wednesday that killed on person and critically injured three others, including a Liberty County sheriff’s deputy.
Original article on the shooting: