Mother of 2012 mass shooting victim shares advice for others after Texas elementary school tragedy

SPRINGFIELD — The murderous rampage in Texas is stirring painful memories for some families here in the Miami Valley, including one family in Springfield.

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The Jackson family lost their son, 27-year-old Matt McQuinn, when he was killed in the mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.

McQuinns mother, Jerri Jackson, shared her advice for anyone trying to cope with this tragedy.

Jackson says talking about her loss is difficult, especially in the wake of a similar attack, but she chooses to have the strength to do so because it’s her way of keeping her son’s memory alive.

“He made the ultimate sacrifice. So we’re very proud of him for that. But we miss him every day,” Jackson said.

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This July will mark 10 years since Jackson lost her son.

McQuinn was one of the 12 people killed when a gunman burst into a midnight movie premier inside a theater in Aurora, Colorado.

McQuinn was one of the people who died that night shielding the person he was with from the gunfire. In his final moments, his act of love saved his girlfriend’s life.

“A young man that was full of life. He loved life. Loved to laugh. He cared very deeply for people,” Jackson said.

Jackson says the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York at a grocery store and now at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas are almost too much to bear.

“When Buffalo happened—it got to me because so much of it was, I felt like it was a repeat of Aurora. The guy had cased out the place, had the tactical gear,” Jackson said. “And then for the school, it just, I think of back when I went to Sandy Hook after that happened, and it just breaks my heart that these little boys and girls were just taken from us.”

She says she’s had to log off social media and turn off the news to get away from all the emotions and pain hearing about the violence stirs up for her.

Jackson is offering a perspective for others working to cope with the tragedies too.

“To take care of themselves. Do the things you need to do to remember your child, remember your wife or girlfriend or whoever it was. Do the things that you need to do to keep their memory alive, to take care of yourself. If you need time to do this or that, take it. Because nobody knows exactly what you’re going through. And nobody can take care of you like you can. And just be kind. Be kind to yourself,” Jackson said.

Jackson says she’ll be going to Aurora this summer to mark 10 years since her son was murdered.

She shared pictures of the memorial showing the garden space there. It has 12 benches, one for each victim and flowers that each family chose to be planted next to the bench memorializing their loved one.

It also has statues of 12 birds flying into the sky, each one containing a letter the families wrote to the person they lost in the attack.

Jackson says her trip later this summer will be therapeutic, saying the families of the victims take comfort in each other.

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