Iowa church honors victims, forgives shooter at one

The leader of an Ames church where two women were killed one year ago says he and his congregation have forgiven the shooter — something pastor Mark Vance said he told the suspect's family at his funeral.

More than 150 cars lined up on Highway 30 at 8:30 a.m. Sunday to attend the anniversary memorial service for Eden Mariah Montang, 22, and Vivian Renee Flores, 21, at Cornerstone Church. Both women were killed June 2, 2022, in the church's parking lot. The two women were attending a service for Salt Company, the church's college ministry.

The shooter, John Whitlatch, died that night by suicide.

Vance said in an interview on Sunday that he fell into deep anger over the senseless deaths. He said he was overwhelmed with emotion the day of the shooting and for several days afterward.

"It was unreal. Like I woke up from a terrible dream," Vance said. "I don't know what emotion that is, but that's what I felt."

Today he tries to describe those emotions as "absolute and utter shock" and said he still vividly remembers the sounds of the families' reactions when they learned their loved ones had died.

"That was a sound of unbelievable grief and sadness," he said.

But then, he says, he found compassion. Eventually, he and Cornerstone founder Troy Nesbitt met with the shooter's family and participated in his memorial.

"There's a family on the other side of this evil act, too," Vance said. "What about their sadness?"

Vance said he read a letter at the memorial he had written for the family, which said: "At Cornerstone Church and Salt Company, we mourn the loss of Eden and Vivian. We have been walking along with those two families in the midst of their profound grief. But we also want you to know we mourn the loss of John. We have been praying for all of you as you process a unique grief as well."

The letter included a note of forgiveness from his congregation for the deaths: "We cannot imagine the depth of internal pain and turmoil that would express itself in this way. But we harbor no bitterness toward John or toward you. We love you. We pray for God's best for you."

The parking lot on Sunday was overflowing with nearly 2,000 in attendance to honor Montang and Flores.

Gabe and Martha Noll and their four children have attended Cornerstone for 15 years. Although they were not at the church the evening of the shooting, they said the past year has been challenging.

"I'm still processing it," Martha Noll said. "But what Mark (Vance) said during his sermon (Sunday) about wrestling with God and not walking away, I really appreciated hearing him say that."

In his sermon, Vance focused on three things that came from last year's tragedy: darkness, light and Jesus Christ.

"Rituals matter because they bring meaning to the pain ... to bring light into this place," Vance told the congregation. "But when we say that light shines into the darkness, we have to admit that the darkness is real."

The darkness of that night was painfully real.

"An event like that is seared into your mind," Vance said after Sunday's memorial service.

A year ago, nine Cornerstone leaders were on site to attend their weekly meeting, congregating two days later than usual.

"I had a conflict with our regular Tuesday evening meeting time so we moved it to Thursday. Normally, I'd never be at the church on a Thursday evening," he said.

The church's college ministry, The Salt Company, also gathers on Thursday nights, which is why Flores and Montang were there.

Moments after the first shots were fired, Nesbitt, who was inside the church with the other leaders, received a phone call about an active shooter in the parking lot. Ames police commander and church leader Jason Tuttle ran outside.

After Tuttle and other officials on-site secured the scene, Vance said he spent the rest of the evening providing comfort.

"It was a blur of caring for people. I was hugging people. Praying with people who were absolutely shaken," Vance said.

Authorities received multiple 911 calls at 6:51 p.m. that night. Deputies were dispatched one minute later and arrived at the scene at 6:56.

At 6:59 p.m. the shooter, Whitlatch, was dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Story County sheriff's officials said Montang had recently ended a relationship with Whitlatch who had several domestic abuse cases filed against him in Iowa courts. Two days before the shooting, Montang had filed a restraining order against her former boyfriend for attacking her.

Montang and Flores were shot as they walked across the parking lot toward the church. Flores' twin sister, Valarie, was with them but was not injured physically in the attack.

After spending hours helping his congregation through their trauma on the night of the shooting, Vance made it home after his family had gone to bed.

"I laid down next to my wife and I realized that I was still visibly shaking. The adrenaline was still flooding my body," Vance said. "The next morning, Friday morning, I woke early and drove to the church. When I got there, about 6:30 in the morning, I walked to where the girls had died. I sat down and wept and prayed. I tried to wrap my mind and my heart around it all and I called my dad. It was a really meaningful first moment for me."

Vance announced the Vivian Flores Scholarship during Sunday's service. The scholarship will be endowed at Iowa State University for a student preparing for a career in veterinary medicine. It will be awarded to a pre-vet student from an immigrant family, like Flores, whose mother, Reyna Arvizo, immigrated from Mexico.

The scholarship, established by Cornerstone Church, has brought in roughly $40,000 of the $50,000 goal. The church plans to donate an additional $15,000 to push the fund over the minimum required for an endowed scholarship.

However, donations for the scholarship are still welcome online at the Cornerstone website or the Iowa State Foundation. Checks can be made out to the ISU Foundation, the Vivian R. Flores Memorial Scholarship.

"A tragic death like this reinforces that life is very short, whether you are 21 or 81 years old," Vance said. "But since this tragedy, life has become so much more beautiful to me. It has become technicolor. I took too many things for granted before Eden's and Vivian's deaths."

Editor's note: This article has been corrected to indicate the sequence of events and statements.

Teresa Kay Albertson covers politics, crime, courts and local government in Ames and central Iowa for the Ames Tribune and Des Moines Register. Reach her on Twitter @TeresaAlberts11 and at [email protected], 515-419-6098.