People in Southington held a moment of silence followed by church bells tolling in honor of Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier, who was killed in the line of duty on Thursday.
As the Southington community continues to mourn the loss of Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier, a moment of silence was held Monday afternoon across town.
At 2:36 p.m., the time Pelletier lost his life last Thursday in a hit-and-run on I-84, a moment of silence was held and church bells at various churches in town chimed.
“We thought it would be appropriate to do something special within the community, you know, we like to think that we’re a small community, a lot of people know each other, and a lot of people know the Pelletier family here in town,” said Paul Chaplinsky, chairman of the Southington Town Council.
People filled the steps of Town Hall and sat on benches in the Town Green to pause and reflect.
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Churches across town participated, ringing their bells in a 5-3-6 sequence to reflect Pelletier’s badge number.
“It is a representation of our love for the trooper. Trooper Pelletier’s part of the network of our family here in Southington,” said Rev. Victoria Triano, of the Christ Community Church.
One of the churches that showed their support was the First Congregational Church in the town’s center.
“This is First Congregational Church, it was founded before the town was founded, and so how appropriate for them to lead the way,” added Rev. Triano.
Rev. Ron Brown said he hopes the church bells provide comfort.
“The bell hopefully communicates to the community that we are together as a community, both when we celebrate and when we mourn, to know that we’re not alone,” Rev. Brown said. “It’s just hard to imagine something so tragic and so we just hold them in our prayers and in our thoughts that they will find comfort in the support the community can give them.”
