CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A rocking hairstyle you can spot from far away, with a personality that filled the room with sunshine. These are only a few things that Natalie Peters and Dylan Lageschlute described their late best friend, Gabe Cooley.
"He has this crazy mullet that he just loved, I mean everybody knew that Gabe's mullet was the mullet of Calallen," said Peters, a friend of Cooley.
"Singing at just the most random times. Just the biggest goofball with the most love in his heart," Lageschlute added.
Cooley was killed at random on August 23rd at the Walmart in Calallen. A day of unimaginable pain.
"Pure sadness and just anger and frustration of 'why him?' you know? 'why Gabe? why would someone do that to just such a nice kid?" said Peters.
Lageschlute then recalled the day Cooley was killed.
"Pinch myself, I'll wake up tomorrow morning and I'll get to call him and go get breakfast or something like that. It just didn't feel real," he said.
Even in the hardest and darkest time for the city of Calallen, Cooley left behind memories that will never be forgotten.
"Every night I was hungry or Gabe was hungry, we would always go out to go and eat. We would always get Whataburger or ice cream," said Peters.
On Saturday, August 29th, Gabe Cooley's life was honored on the same field he put on a Wildcat jersey. Only this time, it wasn't to remember what was lost but to remember the lasting impression he left on an entire community.
"Positive things and just being happy and not wanting to just keep your head down and the dirt. He always wanted it pointed up at the sky," said Lageschlute.
Up in the sky, and in our hearts forever. Calallen strong.