AUSTIN, Texas — A celebration of life was held for 19-year-old Ryder Harrington Friday. The Texas Tech University student was one of two people fatally shot last weekend outside Buford’s on West 6th Street. A third person died Monday.
Harrington was remembered Friday as someone friends and family could count on.
Friends and family members gathered inside Life Family Church in Southwest Austin for a celebration of life ceremony for Harrington. Lead Pastor Randy Phillips said the family is devastated.
“Heartbroken, absolutely crushed. Parents should not bury their children,” Phillips said.
Phillips said Harrington had “so much life left to live, and it just tragically ended too soon.” But he also added, “the impact this young man had on this community and the people here, incredible.”
Police say Ndiaga Diagne allegedly started shooting at a crowd outside Buford’s on West Sixth Street, striking Harrington and others. More than a dozen people were injured.
Phillips said he had known Harrington since he was an infant and performed Harrington’s dedication ceremony.
“But I could not have foreseen just 19 years later, I would have to hold him up again to the Lord,” Phillips said.
Will Guthrie, a childhood friend, said he and Harrington first met on the baseball field at 6 years old and stayed in the same friend groups as they grew up.
“He was always just one of those guys I’d be with,” Guthrie said. “He was definitely a guy you could lean on. He always had your back and was a giving person.”
Guthrie said the service reflected the support surrounding Harrington’s loved ones.
“It was great. It was definitely, as everybody mentioned up there, filled with love. The support he received inside this place was great,” he said.
Of the ceremony, Guthrie said, “It was definitely, as everybody mentioned up there, filled with love. The support he received inside this place was great. I think he definitely had the support group he needed.”
According to the program from the service, Harrington was taking a semester off from school at Texas Tech to work alongside his father and brothers in the family business.
Phillips said, “Two of those months were spent just deep diving into relationships and really embracing his family.” Guthrie called it, “kind of all part of God’s plan in a way.”
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Phillips also described Harrington’s enthusiasm for Texas Tech.
“Oh my goodness, he was a rabid Tech fan. Reck’em Tech, all that stuff,” he said.
Among those who attended the service were Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis and members of the Austin Police Department, which is still investigating the shooting.
Phillips urged people to value the time they have.
“Life is short. Live every moment you can to the fullest, to the deepest. You never know,” he said.
Buford’s announced it is donating 100% of its sales this weekend to families majorly impacted by last weekend’s shooting.