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Shalom Lawson vigil brings family, community together

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (WISH) — Family, friends and complete strangers held a vigil for a little boy.

On Saturday morning, first responders recovered the body of Shalom Lawson from a pond.

Crews found Shalom’s body after he wandered away from a family gathering on Friday.

24-Hour News 8 spoke to Shalom’s father on Sunday.

It started with a crowd around a grieving father who just wanted to talk about his son.

He talked about his son. Shalom, an 8-year-old who carried a big smile…

He was a kid diagnosed with autism, but that didn’t keep him from enjoying life.

“When shalom was born, he was very joyful joyful. He was like an angel,” his father said on Sunday.

Shalom and his family are from Louisville, Kentucky. They came up this week to Brownsburg to visit family.

At the vigil Sunday evening, they were surrounded by strangers — many in the crowd had pitched in to search for Shalom.

“It didn’t matter where you were from — black, white, religion — it didn’t matter because of Shalom,” said one attendee.

The crowd gathered and prayed for the family when the father couldn’t say any more.

And after one prayer was done, they prayed again — this time around Shalom’s hurting mother.

Before the crowd dispersed, Shalom’s father had something he wanted to say to those who call central Indiana

home: “We thank everybody,  the journalists, the police service, everybody, all of you. We just say thank you; we are so grateful. May God bless you all.”

Funeral arrangements for Shalom have not been released.

To contribute to a GoFundMe created to help the family with funeral expenses, click here.

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