Friends, family gather to mourn Vinton teen

VINTON - Mourners gathered Sunday evening to remember a Vinton teenager who was accidentally shot and killed by a friend.

Vinton police confirmed Emma Redlinger, 14, died Saturday. She had been in the pediatric intensive care unit at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics since the Tuesday night shooting.

Police said another teenager was handling a .220-caliber rifle inside a home on West Fourth Street in Vinton. Investigators said the gun discharged, hitting Redlinger in the head.

More than 100 friends and family members attended Redlinger's vigil and prayer service at First Christian Church in Vinton.

Mark Redlinger, Emma's uncle, described his niece as a kind, happy and rambunctious Vinton-Shellsburg High School freshman.

'It's been a sad day,” he said. 'I'm happy that all these people have come out to show support. I'm very appreciative.”

Instead of a ceremony, those that attended the vigil could wander to different rooms inside the church, each with a specific purpose.

There was a spot for quiet prayer, a room for writing Redlinger's family a word of encouragement, and a room for writing negative thoughts about the shooting. Those notes were to be burned at the end of the night.

'Our town has suffered many losses this last year, of our young people and young adults,” said Jennie Anderson, a head elder at the church. 'A lot of tragedies, suicides, accidents. We just thought that this was something maybe that they could come together, a safe place where they can express their grief.”

In the four days a GoFundMe page for Emma has been active online, more than 260 people donated more than $12,200.

'It's amazing that everybody is out there supporting her,” said Jennifer Redlinger, Emma's aunt. 'The prayer chains that went out, the GoFundMe, it's just awesome.”