Friend Of Southern California Woman Killed In Oregon School Shooting Reacts To President's Visit
MISSION VIEJO (CBSLA.com) — As President Obama visited Roseburg, Oregon Friday, former classmates of Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, a 59-year-old southern California native who was shot and killed in last weeks massacre, are remembering their dear friend.
CBS2's Adrianna Weingold talked to the woman's friends on a day for a reason many are still trying to come to terms with.
"She even said that when she was going to come down for the reunion would I save her a dance? So I said yes of course and then I heard about the news," says Mike McDougle.
McDougle went to Mission Viejo High School with Dietz and says, like him, she was a gun owner and 2nd amendment supporter.
"A mechanical device cannot do anything without somebody operating it, a car can't kill a person without someone driving it a gun can't kill somebody without pulling the trigger", McDougle says.
In Roseburg, some protested the presidential visit, saying Obama's only there to politicize his own anti-gun agenda.
"If I lived in Oregon I might not feel very well if the president were coming to speak on his opinions regarding gun control or whatever because he would be using that event to espouse his political beliefs," McDougle says.
The White House insists the trip was only about consoling the families so deeply affected by the tragedy.
But back at home, where Dietz grew up, McDougle and other classmates are getting ready for homecoming, taking time to look back on a life taken too soon.
Friends and former classmates say they plan to honor Dietz Saturday with a moment of silence at their annual alumni picnic.