Any other night, the small California town of San Juan Bautista is shrouded in darkness, lit only by scattered streetlights and the dim glow of a few saloons. For decades, rural communities like San Juan Bautista have endured higher suicide rates than cities, and most of these deaths involve firearms. View image in fullscreen The Mission San Juan Bautista and farmland in San Juan Bautista, California, on 3 November 2022. That, however, didn’t happen in San Juan Bautista or San Benito county. The park, Flores said, was the neighbors’ way of remembering a neighbor who made San Juan Bautista better.

Source: The Guardian March 12, 2026 16:16 UTC