Seats left empty for Saugus shooting victims on what would've been their graduation day

Wednesday marked a bittersweet day for students and families at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita.

The school's graduation ceremony was held to celebrate the academic accomplishments of high school seniors. But just feet away from the graduating students were two vacant seats decorated with makeshift memorials. The two chairs were left empty in honor of Dominic Blackwell and Gracie Mehlberger, the two victims in the 2019 shooting.

Wednesday would have been the day the two students were on track to graduate. Instead, their parents were there to accept the honorary diploma in their place.

"I'm glad we had the chairs for them," said one student. "I was definitely thinking about them this whole night."

"It will always be a part of our story. I think that's important to not forget where we came from," said another classmate.