Mass shooting survivor throws first pitch at Reds game

CINCINNATI (ENQUIRER) – A survivor of a July 6 mass shooting in a northern Kentucky suburb will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Cincinnati Reds game Friday to honor the other victims who were injured or killed, including her mother, our partners at the Cincinnati Enquirer report.

Chloe Parrett, 19, was shot along with six others, four of them fatally, when a lone gunman opened fire on partygoers at her brother's 21st birthday party in Florence.

Among those killed were her mother, 44-year-old Melissa Parrett, Shane Miller, 20, Hayden Rybicki, 20, and Delaney Eary, 19. Three people were injured. Police identified the shooter as Chase Garvey, 21, who turned the gun on himself shortly after the shooting.

A Reds spokesman confirmed that family members of the other victims will accompany Parrett on the field at Great American Ball Park before the Reds face the Pittsburgh Pirates, which is scheduled to begin at 6:40 p.m.

Chloe Parrett already had tickets to Friday's game, which she planned to attend with her mother and some friends, her father, Bruce Parrett, told the Enquirer. After the shooting, one of her friends wrote to the Reds to suggest her for the first pitch, and the team agreed.

The Reds also allowed up to 12 people to accompany Chloe Parrett onto the field, so she began making contact with the other surviving victims and the families of those killed, Bruce Parrett said, adding that her mother's best friend would be behind home base to catch the ball.

“It's just something uplifting in a dark time,” he said of the community support since the shooting. “It just makes us feel supported.”

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