At least 200 people streamed in and out of the makeshift memorial that morphed into a candlelight vigil by nightfall. Friends, family, teammates and coaches hugged each other with tears in their eyes.
Hunter High School junior Tanner Vasquez crouched down just a few feet away from the crowd. His face showed anguish as others stood silently in front of the chain-link fence on the corner of 4100 South and Mountain View Corridor.
More that a hundred people gather at the candlelight vigil of Hunter High football players Paul Tahi , 15, Tivani Lopati, 14, and Ephraim Asiata, 15, on Friday, Jan 14, 2022, in West Valley City, near Hunter High School along 1400 South at Mountain View Corridor. Paul Tahi and Tivani Lopati were killed in a shooting, while Ephraim Asiata remains in critical condition.
“We’ve all just been reaching out [and saying], ‘If you guys need to talk to anybody, we’re all here for each other,’” Parke said. “If anybody needs anything, no matter how big or how small, we’re a team. We’re a brotherhood. We’re going to pull through and get through this together.” “Our Polynesian community is a tight and small, but [a] big community,” Malaga said. “We look out for each other, especially the kids. When one hurts we all hurt. So this was, and is, very devastating for us all.”“I’m directly related to him,” he said. “And I’m seeing people who I don’t recognize.”
Parke said there’s a joke within the team that Asiata, whose nickname is “Fat Boy,” is like a grown man. “I never saw him mad,” Parke said. “He was always laughing, making jokes, just trying to make people happy.”Asiata, who remains hospitalized, is a standout linebacker. He has offers from Wisconsin and Utah. He is the son of former Utah running back Matt Asiata, who went on to play five years for the Minnesota Vikings.