It was a moment Keegan Gregory wanted but at many points in the last three years seemed unreachable.

On Thursday, Keegan joined more than 410 classmates and graduated from Oxford High School in a commencement ceremony for the class of 2025 at Pine Knob in Clarkston.

Wearing a navy blue Oxford cap and gown, and three cords around his neck — lavender for Hana St. Juliana, 14, who was killed in the attack at the high school in 2021 and would have graduated this year; orange for gun violence survivors; and blue-and-yellow for the school colors — Keegan walked across the stage and collected his diploma.

His parents, Chad and Meghan Gregory; his four younger siblings, Piper, Peyton, Bentley and Sawyer; as well as grandparents and uncles, watched from their seats as Keegan crossed the stage, shook hands, returned hugs and walked away with a diploma in hand.

The road to graduation has been a long one for Keegan, now 18, who moved to Florida with his family two years ago to seek a fresh start after the gun attack on his school left him and his family searching for healing.

Just ahead of Thursday’s graduation ceremony, Keegan, who attended Oxford High School his freshman and sophomore years and returned as a senior, said he was excited to be back in Michigan and ready to cross the stage with his friends.

“It feels good. It feels like nostalgic almost,” he said. “It’s like, nice to see all my friends and get back within the community.”

Keegan’s father, Chad, said standing at Pine Knob looking over the pavilion stage as students lined up was a surreal moment.

“It feels great that we’re here,” he said. “It feels great that he’s here, that he wanted to do it for us. It’s like he’s the oldest. So we had expected this day was gonna come, and then we thought it would never come, or how would it happen, right? So the school’s been great, allowing him to graduate with his class and come back.”

Meghan, Keegan’s mother, said she had expected to feel emotional but at the moment she was excited.

“I’m so proud of him,” she said. “It’s right, like, it blew my mind, because it was so different than what I was expecting to feel. … I’m just happy, and I’m so excited to see all these kids be able to cross that stage.”

Logan Sweeney, 18, an Oxford friend of Keegan’s since kindergarten, said it meant a lot to him that Keegan returned to Michigan to graduate with him and all the other seniors.

“His path of school was pretty rocky and, like, doing online and stuff, yeah, but I’m pretty sure he always wanted to come back to walk the stage with us,” Logan said.

“It means a lot. I’m very glad that he’s coming back and going to graduate with us, because we don’t get to see him too often.”

On Nov. 30, 2021, Keegan was trapped in a bathroom during the shooting rampage with another student, 17-year-old Justin Shilling. The killer entered the bathroom and shot Justin, who later died.

Keegan escaped, but other students were killed that day including Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Tate Myre, 16. Seven others were injured, including a teacher.

After the attack, Keegan did not return to Oxford High School in person, but attempted to work online from home. He struggled with school his sophomore year before moving with his family to Florida in September 2023 for a fresh start. He enrolled as a junior in a private school there, but left and would later enter an inpatient treatment center, where he continued school online while he received intensive therapy.

He eventually enrolled as a senior at Oxford Community Schools and completed classes online until he had enough credits to graduate.

Since the attack, Keegan has navigated moments of extreme darkness while trying to live a normal teen life. He returned to sports and his studies, stayed close to friends and engaged in mental health therapies.

During the graduation ceremony, artwork of a flower lay against an empty front row seat during graduation for Hana, who would have graduated with the class. The commencement also included a 3 1/2-minute video remembrance of Hana, with photos of the teen with her friends, and interviews about what Hana’s classmates loved about her outgoing and kind personality. Her family did not attend the ceremony.

Clay Shilling, the brother of Justin, addressed the crowd as a 2025 graduate.“Our class faced challenges no one should have,” he said. “No one could have imagined we lost friends, mentors and classmates who should be sitting here with us. I’m sitting here for my brother, Justin Shilling, and for Tate, Madisyn and Hana,” Clay said.

“We honor them by living, by stepping into tomorrow with hope, courage and a defensive purpose. We are their legacy, and that is a beautiful responsibility.”

Three other students who were injured during the attack are also members of the Class of 2025. Aiden Watson was shot as he ran back into a classroom at Oxford High to warn others; Phoebe Arthur, was shot in the chest and neck; and Elijah Mueller, who along with Phoebe, was among the first victims.

Sweeney recalled living two doors down from the Gregorys in Oxford until the family moved to Florida.

As children, the pair swam and played basketball together and rode their bikes to Frosty Boy, an ice cream shop along the Polly Ann Trail in north Oakland County.

Sweeney was in a classroom with other students the day of the attack. He recalled barricading the door with chairs, texting with his parents and Keegan. Sweeney, also a freshman at the time, emerged from the school with a police escort and began to hear from others about what had happened to Keegan in the bathroom.

“The first year or first couple months, he was very like, it seemed like shocked … I guess his soul wasn’t a part of him. .. It just seemed like (he) didn’t believe what his eyes saw,” he said of Keegan. “He was able to tell us about what happened and what he saw, but he definitely wasn’t the same.”

The two have stayed in touch with texts on Snapchat or an occasional phone call, with Sweeney going to Florida for spring break last year and Keegan returning to Michigan in January to snowboard with him and other Oxford High friends.

“He’s definitely grown since, he’s great now,” Sweeney said. “He definitely seemed a lot better. Seemed like the old Keegan I used to know.”

Sweeney will attend Michigan State University.

“I’m very excited to graduate, finally leaving the school. I mean, I’ve had good, good memories there besides my freshman year.”