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Candlelight vigil in Boise honors University of Idaho students

Hundreds of people attended a candlelight vigil Thursday at Boise State to honor the lives of the four University of Idaho students murdered.

BOISE, Idaho — Hundreds of people attended a candlelight vigil Thursday to honor the lives of the four University of Idaho students murdered. 

"I am still in utter shock and I am so angry and so sad," one of the speakers at Thursday's vigil said.

The Associated Students of Boise State University held Thursday's community event at the B Plaza on the south side of the Administration Building, near South Joyce Street and West University Drive. 

The vigil included a moment of silence, student speakers and support counseling services. 

Police earlier this week identified the students who died as 20-year-old Ethan Chapin, from Conway, Washington; 21-year-old Madison Mogen, from Coeur d'Alene; 20-year-old Xana Kernodle, from Post Falls and 21-year-old Kaylee GonCalves, from Rathdrum.

"They are people who shaped who I am today," a speaker at the vigil said.

Boise State Student Body President Adam Jones was among the speakers.

"When we have a loss like this, the community needs to come together," Jones said. "We're 300 miles away from Moscow, but I think that you can't find a kid on campus that doesn't know what's going on, that isn't impacted by that somehow and a lot of us don't have a connection personally to those up there, but they still feel the loss and showed up tonight in the cold. They waited, they cried."

Those who attended lit candles, brought flowers and grieved for the victims and their loved ones.

"When I heard the news on Monday, it was like a punch in the gut," vigil attendee Kristin Olson said. "I have an 18 year old, I work regularly with college students and this student, this age, population age and I wanted to show support for the families knowing that this has got to be an incredible loss to them."

In a Facebook post Tuesday, ASBSU said, "the tragic events that occurred early Sunday morning have left an unfillable hole in our heart and community … It is the responsibility of all of us to maintain the health and safety of the student body."

The full candlelight vigil can be viewed below: 

After days with limited answers on what happened surrounding four homicides that took place in Moscow on Sunday, Nov. 13 -- and after Moscow Police told the public there was no threat to the community -- police are now saying they "cannot say" whether or not there is a threat.

"You have questions and so do we," Moscow Police Department's Chief James Fry said.

Fry extended his condolences to the families and added that this was a "horrible crime."

Police found the four students dead on Sunday when responding to a call about an unconscious person at a home on King Road, less than a mile from the U of I campus. 

Fry can not identify any possible suspects or persons of interest, he said in the press conference. There was no sign of forced entry and the police are still working on a timeline, he said.

Police believe the four students were killed with an edged weapon such as a knife, and they believe the students were killed in an "isolated, targeted attack."

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