The Family Of One Of The Youngest Thousand Oaks Shooting Victims Speaks Out In Her Honor

The last family waiting to find out about the status of their loved ones following the Thousand Oaks shooting has now learned of their young daughter’s death. According to People, the family of 20-year-old Kristina Morisette, who worked as a cashier in Thousand Oaks, was forced to wait for twelve hours to find out if she had survived the ordeal.

It was twelve hours of terror and anxiety as Michael and Martha Morisette held on to cautious hope that their daughter was okay. The family had been awoken in the early hours of Thursday morning by someone pounding at their front door. It was the frantic knocking of Kristina’s best friend who lived down the street. There had been a shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill.

Soon other family members and friends began calling, asking if the Morisettes had heard from Kristina. Her older sister, who lives out of state, started to call local hospitals to try and find any information. Kristina’s parents hadn’t even had time to process what was happening before neighbors began stopping by to see if there was anything they could do to help.

Michael texted his daughter at 1:45am but got no response, so the family decided to drive to the venue to find her. The area was blocked off by police response and they were forced to gather at an information center to await their daughter’s fate. There they watched police inform several other families that their loved ones had not made it through the tragic ordeal. “That made it harder, but it’s just the way it worked out I guess,” Michael said. “It made it hard to watch everyone go through and sit through the pain and agony.”

Kristina Morissette, 20, was an employee at the #Borderline bar who had just returned from a trip to Texas. She was known to be a great friend who loved hiking, drawing, and doing makeup. https://t.co/i4baU49HDy

— Brady | United Against Gun Violence (@bradybuzz) November 9, 2018

Still, they held on to every last scrap of hope that maybe Kristina had managed to make it out. Perhaps she’d lost her phone while trying to escape, or maybe she was held up by police interviewing her as a witness. “What I hoped for was that she would walk through the door,” her father said. “I hoped that she was at a hospital and they just didn’t know who she was.”

Finally, at around 12:30 p.m., the sheriff informed them their daughter had been killed. Kristina was among eleven citizens who lost their lives when a gunman opened fire in the bar. The official count of 12 dead includes the gunman.

Her parents now say they want the world to remember her as someone who always had a smile on her face and found the positive in every situation. Kristina “went as fast as she could to get places that she wanted to go,” Michael said. “She didn’t delay … She didn’t look for the negative. Carry that in your heart.”