Communities across the state came together to remember the victims of the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh.
This was one of the emotional events that took place across the state on Sunday. People remembering those whose lives were lost and taking a step toward healing a grieving community.
Raising their voices and shining a light during dark times.
“You’re helping to heal us and you’re helping to unite us,” said Middletown Mayor Dan Drew.
Hundreds gathered on the South Green in Middletown for a vigil for the victims of the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh.
"We will stand together against hate and violence and for the victims," said Mayor Dan Drew in a Facebook post.
Earlier, outside Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford, hundreds watched as a candle was lit for each of the eleven victims.
“May their memory endure as an inspiration.”
Among the crowd was Barbara Zubrow.
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“I felt I had to come,” she said.
She has family that attends the Tree of Life Synagogue and one of her granddaughters helped organize a vigil there.
“I think that’s trying to help them come together and be supportive and help them through this horrible time,” she added.
Many here are worried about the rise in anti-Semitism in the country and acts of hate, but that won’t stop them from heading to synagogues in the future.
“I think it’s important not to live our lives in fear and to come together and there is power in numbers and power in standing up against hate,” said Rachel Berezin, of Longmeadow, Massachusetts.
And while the president has called for more armed security at places of worship, some have pushed back against that idea including Senator Richard Blumenthal.
Pittsburgh Police responded to a shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood on Saturday morning.
Officials said eleven people were killed and six others were injured. Four of the people who were injured are police officers, three of whom were shot.
Several law enforcement officials have identified the suspected gunman as 46-year-old Robert Bowers, of Pittsburgh. He is being charged with 29 federal counts including hate crimes and weapons offenses.
