Community members plan memorial for Accent Signage shooting victims

It was the deadliest workplace shooting ever in Minnesota.

Now, there are concrete plans for a memorial to honor the six people killed and four others injured during the Accent Signage shooting that happened in September 2012. 

The business and blueprint for the memorial are in Bryn Mawr neighborhood near Interstate 394 in Minneapolis. Neighbors and family members of those lost need help raising money for the memorial.

For Brent Basinski, it’s an event too gruesome to remember, yet too important to forget.

“At the wake and funeral, 3,000 people showed up,” he said.  “You realize, he really touched a lot of people’s lives, not just ours.”

He’s talking about his dad, Keith Basinski, a longtime UPS driver who was making a delivery at Accent Signage. Basinski was sitting in his truck when he was targeted. He was another victim of a fired employee’s rage. 

To folks living in Bryn Mawr, Basinski was a familiar and welcome face, smiling and waving.

“Just those small kind gestures are what he gave to the neighborhood,” Kathryn Kaatz said.

Neighbors feel compelled to give back.

Architect  Patrick Waddick said a memorial means a lot; he put the vision of residents and victims’ relatives together. 

The design is called the Garden of Hope and Healing. There will be a large memorial with benches, a plaza area for gathering and a walking path. Its location is special, right next to the Accent Signage building and along the ever-peaceful Bassett Creek.

It will cost about $60,000 to build the memorial. Basinski’s employer, UPS, pledged $10,000, and organizers have raised another $1,000 so far. 

More is needed to construct a testimony to the lives lived and lost. Neighborhood organizers and victims’ relatives have been going door-to-door for donations. An online fundraiser has also been set up. 

This memorial isn’t about one victim, but all of them. Organizers hope to reach their goal by the end of summer to start construction.