LSUE community remembers student slain in Lafayette theater massacre

A prayer and candlelight vigil remembered Macyi Breaux, a LSUE student who was one of 11 people shot during a one minute rampage at the Grand 16 Theatre in Lafayette, at the LSUE Catholic Student Center Tuesday evening.
Breaux was one of two victims who died in the shooting by 59-year-old John “Rusty” Houser, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot according to a Lafayette Parish Coroner’s Office preliminary report.
Two of the wounded remained in the hospital as of Tuesday, the Acadiana Advocate reported.
The Rev. Clinton Sensat, pastor of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Eunice, said about Breaux, “I could see in her mentors and in her classmates they are broken-hearted. So, she must have been an amazing woman.”
Sensat, who led the prayer service attended by about 100 people, believed nothing has touched the community similar to the theater massacre.
“Why did this happen? How could it be so senseless? We know of no motive. We know of no reason. Why that movie? Why that day? Why that theater? Why our friends? Why a member of our community? It makes no sense,” he said.
“Evil never makes sense, only good is rational,” he said.
The crowd included classmates, instructors, friends and aquaintenances of Breaux, 21, who was a first-year radiology technology student at Louisiana State University Eunice.
Sensat acknowledged anger in the community that knew Breaux.
The worst of the event is the evil threatens to poison survivors for decades he said.
“We only allow that shooting to get more and more victims if we succumb to anger because anger is a wound in us,” he said he asking for a spirit of forgiveness.
Dr. Renee Robichaux, interim LSUE chancellor, said, “It is good to see so many gathered as a community to reflect and pray for peace in light of the tragic shooting at the Grand Theatre in Lafayette last Thursday.”
Robichaux said, “By all accounts Mayci was a vibrant, energetic young woman with a promising future ahead of her that was taken through a senseless act of violence.
“As we come together there is a sadness and grief and perhaps anger in the loss we feel. Our campus is in shock and greatly saddened by the tragic event that took the lives of Mayci and also another young woman, Jillian Johnson and wounded nine others.”
Johnson of Lafayette and Breaux of Franklin were buried in their hometowns on Monday.
Amy Amiot, 20, of Eunice, a LSUE rad-tech student, said she met Breaux a couple of times.
“Everyone has talked about how great a person she was and how nice and sweet she was,” she said.
Robert McLaughlin, rad-tech program director at LSUE, said, “I’ve known her for about a year and half. Very outspoken, very determined young woman. She was a high achiever, motivated, self-determined and knew what she wanted. She wanted to pursue not just the radiology program, but she wanted to further her education hopefully in ultra sound in some aspect.”
McLaughlin said, “She always had a smile on her face. She was always getting along with everybody. She never had an enemy that I saw. She was an excellent student all around.”
McLaughlin said colleagues across the state reported nothing like the shooting had occurred to someone in their programs.
Janet Scott, an instructor in the rad-tech program, said she could not remember anything like the shooting in her 19 years at LSUE.
“We’ve had small little tragedies with our students,” she said. “We get to know them well for two years. We have really close relationships with them, so there is a lot tragedies in their lives that happen, but nothing like this.”
Mary Carrier of Church Point, who was attending the service with her daughter, Clarissa, a rad-tech student, said she was devasted by the shooting.
Clarissa Carrier said Breaux was “like any other young girl living life, beautiful, outgoing, and, I’m pretty sure, that was it from all of us.”
Another rad-tech instructor, Kayla Kastner, said Breaux referred to herself as “cutie pie” and got stuck with that nickname.
Dr. Jaleh Gautreaux, who teaches French at LSUE, said she did not know Breaux and came to the service “to commemorate the lives we lost and pray for the families.”
She added, “Maybe it is good to know that there is really no place that is safe.”