MUKILTEO, Wash. — The grief hung heavily as the father of Jordan Ebner sought solace.
His son, Jake Long and Anna Bui were murdered as they partied in Mukilteo's affluent Chennault neighborhood early Saturday.
All of them just 19-years-old; all of them 2015 graduates of Kamiak High school.
<br/> "I lost my best friend and two really, really great friends," Jansen Garside said, his voice breaking.
The pain of that loss almost too much as he talked about his best friend, Jake Long.
"He was the best kind of person," Garside said. "He was the person I aspire to be like. He was a leader. He was kind and caring to everybody. He was always looking for the best in people."
Jake was at the party early Saturday morning when 19-year-old Allen Ivanov allegedly walked in with a gun, and opened fire. Four people were hit but only one, survived.
"Today we're gathered as Mukilteons and as Kamiak Knights," said the city's mayor.
A Kamiak alum, Mukilteo Mayor Jennifer Gregerson dressed in the school's purple colors, to lead this vigil she called in the wake of the tragedy.
"I'm so sorry that you're experiencing this event and this pain and this tragedy," the mayor said.
Governor Jay Inslee told the hundreds here that they must not grow complacent about the violence.
"Passivity in the face of gun violence is unacceptable," Inslee said. "Inaction is unacceptable. Continued gun violence is unacceptable. Acceptance of gun violence is unacceptable. And I know we will turn to one another and seek a common wisdom in the days that come."
But for now, at least, there is still mostly the pain.
"It's unbelievable," said Emily Linh, who, like Bui, is a member of the Snohomish County Vietnamese-American community. "It's still processing that it's actually happened here."
"It's just something that you don't think would happen to anyone," Jamie Frisch said, as she wiped away the tears shed for her three friends. "To someone so close to you."
The pain of this tragedy will likely linger for some time for those who are here as they try to search for the answer to why.