Not a day goes by without a yearning in our hearts to hold our babies one more time. Not a day goes by without missing the laughter and joy you both brought to ours, and so many other lives.
Tuesday morning, four bouquets of flowers lay on the obelisks raised in memory of Gracie Anne Muehlberger and Dominic Michael Blackwell in Central Park, and four years later, the wounds continue to be felt by the community that experienced the incident that rocked the entirety of Santa Clarita to its core.
The Timeline Of Events
Muehlberger’s morning was not her typical routine on Nov. 14, 2019. She was awoken by her mother around 5 a.m. who was about to leave for a scheduled surgery.
“Mom’s got her surgery today, I’ll be home a little bit later today,” said Cindy Muehlberger. “Are you gonna take care of momma when I get home?”
She told her daughter goodbye, not knowing this would be the last time she would see her alive.
At 7:15 a.m., Muehlberger was picked up by her best friend Addison Koegle and her family. She received a text from her father Bryan Muehlberger asking if she was on her way to school.
“Yup, we’re in the car right now.”
“Ok good, mom just went into surgery, I’ll text you when she’s out. I love you.”
“Ok, I love you too.”
This would be the last message her father would receive from his daughter.
Mia Tretta pulled on her Saugus hoodie, grabbed her bagel, and got into her grandma’s car. When she arrived at school, she met up with Blackwell and Koegle, among others in her group of friends in the quad.
Suddenly at 7:38 a.m. a pop rang out, a second pop and Tretta was on the ground. She managed to pick herself up and run to her favorite teacher, Tere La Giusa’s classroom.
La Guisa kept her door unlocked in an effort to shelter as many students as she could. All the other classroom doors on campus were locked by staff, according to two students who helped Tretta.
“I’ve been shot.” Tretta told another student.
Koegle shared her own experience in another area of campus, stating that her teacher and fellow students had resorted to first aid kits to treat her two injuries, forgetting in the panic of the moment of the "Stop the Bleed" kit’s existence.
Within the span of 10 seconds, 16-year-old Nathaniel Berhow walked into the quad of Saugus High School, pulled a .45-caliber semi-automatic ghost handgun from his backpack, and opened fire before turning the gun on himself, according to officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD).
Muehlberger and Blackwell were killed as a result of the shooting. Koegle, Tretta, and Andrew Gardetto suffered gun-inflicted injuries.
The incident caused the evacuation of hundreds of students to the near-by Central Park to begin the reunification process with parents and guardians. First responders, media, and local government representatives joined them at the impromptu command center, everyone waiting for a hint of direction as to where to turn after the shocking tragedy.
“When I met up with Michael [Brown] and David [Melnarik] at Central Park we all hugged each other really tight,” recalled Jade Aubuchon, KHTS Co-News Director. “That didn’t happen often, just Christmas parties and birthdays. I remember us all sitting on a curb, writing or editing photos or calling our parents to tell them we were okay while we were sorting through what we were supposed to do next.”
Investigators wouldn’t know for certain that the shooter had been taken from the campus to the hospital for several hours, leading to uncertainty and fear as the community worried about a possible rampage to nearby middle and elementary schools.
The shooter would die at Henry Mayo Hospital, mere rooms away from where Muehlberger and Blackwell took their last breaths.
As the sun set over the Santa Clarita Valley on Sunday, Nov. 17, over 15,000 people gathered at Central Park to hold a vigil, lighting up the sky with blue glow sticks in honor of the victims of the Saugus High shooting.
This would become the largest gathering in the history of the Santa Clarita Valley. Music, prayers, and testimonials from the victims and their families filled the night in a moment of unity.
A week later, the weapon used in the shooting was determined to be a “ghost gun,” which was assembled from various parts and had no serial number, according to the LASD.
During the summer of 2020, less than a year after the tragedy, KHTS Co-News Director Jade Aubuchon and KHTS Video Director Andrew Menjivar met with the families of Muehlberger and Blackwell. The families had granted the reporters a close and intimate look into who their children were and what they experienced on that day.
“Because it was so recent, I think it was uncomfortable for everyone to talk about it, including us,” said Menjivar. “But I also knew how important it was to tell this story. It was important to me that we showed that these kids were real. Sometimes you watch the news and they only show a picture and that’s all you’ll ever know. Everyone needed to know who Gracie and Dominic were.”
The parents allowed Menjivar into the rooms of the victims to put into context each personality. Muehlberger’s mother revealed that her daughter had written 4 letters to herself for future accomplishments. She only accomplished one: Making it to high school.
“It hurts, seeing the way students who were on campus talk about their experience. Whether it was minutes, or weeks, or years after.” said Aubuchon. “Their eyes go blank while they recount their day, even as they smile like they’re trying make you feel more comfortable.”
Even under the pressure of a global pandemic, the shutting down of businesses and schools and quarantine, the community still took steps forward in memorializing the tragedy. The Blackwell and Muehlberger families each created non-profit foundations with the goal of providing support for teens and advocating against unsafe gun sales to help prevent school shootings.
In addition, the families spent months lobbying for the addition of the names of Saugus shooting victims to the signage of Central Park, with “In Memoriam of Gracie Muehlberger and Dominic Blackwell” now engraved on the entrance sign.
On June 4, 2021, the Santa Clarita City Council unveiled two 11-foot obelisks, with murals on each side made from mosaic tiles meant to memorialize 15-year-old Gracie and 14-year-old Dominic.
Did They Find A Motive?
During the investigation and to date, no suicide note has been found, and no concrete motive for Berhow’s decision to injure or kill five other teens on the morning of his 16th birthday has ever been shared with the public.
Looking To The Future
On May 31, 2023, the Saugus Class Of 2023 held their graduation ceremony. Three empty chairs stood in a full stadium. Two chairs were meant for Blackwell and Muehlberger, both receiving honorary degrees.
Tretta, now a “Gun Violence Prevention Advocate,” gave a speech to the class of 2023 urging them to “create the world you want to live in.”
Ed. Note: Jade Aubuchon contributed to this article.
This article was originally published on HometownStation.com 11/14/23.