DAYTON — Crosses for each of the nine victims killed in Sunday morning’s shooting in the Oregon District line the street after they were placed there by a man who travels the country in support of those killed by violence.
Greg Zanis, founder of Crosses for Losses, has personally delivered more than 20,000 handmade crosses since he began making them following his father-in-law’s murder in the 1990s.
Zanis was already on the way to the scene of the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, when he heard about the Dayton shooting.
"I had left and I was on the way to El Paso,” Zanis told News Center 7.
Zanis says he tries to spend only a brief amount of time at the scenes of the tragedies, but takes the time to meet with the victims’ families.
"I try to get in and out without crying," Zanis said. “This is the most beautiful area. It just reminds me of Bourbon Street."
Zanis, a carpenter who lives in Illinois, estimated he’d driven around 3,600 miles between his trips to Dayton and El Paso.
