Memorial Service Conducted For Grapevine Shooting Victims
LANCASTER (AP) - Hundreds of people gathered Friday to remember six people killed in Grapevine by a family member who then turned the gun on himself.
The ceremony, conducted Friday at the Cedar Canyon Dude Ranch in Lancaster, did not honor 56-year-old Aziz Yazdanpanah, who authorities say fatally shot the six on Christmas Day in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine before killing himself.
About 500 people showed up at the ranch, owned and operated by some of the family members that were killed. It was also the last place where many friends saw the family, which held a Christmas celebration at the site on Christmas Eve.
Traditional Persian cuisine was served and poems were read in English and Farsi during Friday's gathering. Tearful onlookers viewed a slide show.
Friends said rather than focusing on the tragedy, they wanted to celebrate the victims and how they touched the lives of others.
The remembrance came a day after a private burial for the six victims on Thursday.
Authorities say Yazdanpanah, who had marital and financial problems, killed his estranged wife, their two teenage children, his wife's sister, his brother-in-law and his niece before shooting himself at an apartment in Grapevine where his wife and children had been staying.
Relatives who could not make the trip held a memorial service in Iran.
MORE: 7 People Found Dead Inside Grapevine Apartment
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MORE: Family Speaks Out Over Christmas Day Shootings
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