When the clock struck 12 on Tuesday afternoon, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church rang its bell for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting.
In that moment, the movement of a bustling downtown Southington stopped.
A gunman killed 58 people who were attending a country music festival before killing himself Sunday.
Kurt Ryder tried to pull the rope once for each of the victims who died in the Las Vegas shooting, but it was too much. It was an emotional moment because he did the same thing nearly five years ago after the Sandy Hook tragedy.
After St. Paul’s Episcopal Church rang the bell 59 times on Tuesday, First Congregational Church and First Lutheran Church followed and did the same.
People in town stopped what they were doing and stood in solidarity. For many, the bells served as a moment of silence.
"We don’t know the names of all the people yet, but we know there’s a name and a person and a family and a story and a great loss that goes with each bell being rung," Suzannah Rohman, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, said.
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Both Brittany Tripp and Cath Gorman stopped what they were doing.
"It’s beautiful in a time of tragedy," Tripp said.
"When I first heard the bells I just felt shivers down my spine it bring it home its happening all over our country," Gorman said. "We all share in the tragedy that happened."
The tragedy that has left so many of us with questions.
