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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — More than a hundred mourners gathered at the entrance of Manzano Mesa Elementary School Friday evening for a candlelight vigil in honor of the three children who police say were shot and killed by their mother’s ex-boyfriend in a murder-suicide last week.

Their mother, Cheryl Mascarenas, 36, was critically injured in the shooting and is still at the University of New Mexico Hospital.

Police say her ex-boyfriend, George Daniel Wechsler, 45, broke into the family’s home in Four Hills and waited for them to return. Then they say he shot all four of them before turning the gun on himself.

The children, ages 5 to 9, attended kindergarten, first grade and fourth grade at Manzano Mesa.

Many of their classmates attended the vigil, clutching stuffed animals and holding tightly onto their parents’ hands as the crowd sang Amazing Grace and other songs. A dozen firefighters and paramedics also attended the event, standing together in the back of the crowd.

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