AC360 EXCLUSIVE: Mike and Cynthia McLelland’s Daughter” They were taken from us too soon”

Mike and Cynthia McLelland were laid to rest today. Their daughter Christina and close family friend Leah Phillips spoke exclusively to Anderson Cooper tonight on AC360°.

Christina told Anderson about her step-father Mike, “he believed very deeply about providing safety and he requested that all the officers arm themselves and a lot of the media has taken this as a stand for more gun control and that is absolutely disrespectful to the memory.”

“They’d want to be remembered as the loving, kind, joyful people that they were and the outpouring of love and shared memories has been just overwhelming. They touched so many lives. They did so many good things. They helped pay for school for children who couldn’t go to school, they helped their neighbors, they helped their friends, they were there for everybody. Like I said at the memorial – just don’t back down, do what’s right. They’d want to be remembered that they stood up and they stood for something and they stood families, their friends, their neighbors, the rest of Texas, the rest of the country. And we can’t let people discourage us from doing that.”