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In the days that followed, Stockton refused to look away or move on in silence. Strangers left flowers where children had played hours before. Candlelight vigils lit up sidewalks once lined with parked cars and party guests. Local leaders spoke of unity, but it was the quiet gestures—shared meals, rides to the hospital, hands held outside ICU doors—that carried grieving families through the first awful nights, reminding them they would not face this pain alone.
