Baltimoreans pay tribute to Sandy Hook victims, families

Vigils, prayer services held in Maryland for Connecticut victims

BALTIMORE —Baltimore-area residents have used a variety of ways to publicly express their condolences to the people of Newtown, Conn., one year after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

People are torn over how to commemorate the anniversary. Some chose to do so through private prayer, but many gathered for modest tributes. One college student put it this way: Although at a distance, we are coming together in solidarity with Newtown.

A tribute at Loyola University included a song written for Newtown. The names of each of the 26 victims were read aloud and a candlelit prayer service was held for surviving families and friends.

"They are in my thoughts and in my prayers and I am sending a lot of peace their way and hoping that they are getting through these troubling times," said Lauren O'Brien, a Loyola student.

"All around the nation, you should know that we are looking out for you, Sandy Hook, we are here for you," said C.J. Atikison, a Loyola student.

Newtown residents are said to be exhausted and still traumatized. The community asked for peace, quiet and no media intrusions. Local officials and the victims' families put the word out that they would rather have people perform acts of kindness to honor the victims, such as volunteer for a charitable cause.

The call for remembrance and resolve at the Cathedral of Incarnation in Baltimore drew people of many faiths. The memorial not only honored the 26 lives taken in Newtown, but the thousands of lives lost to gun violence in America each year.

As of October, Maryland has one of the toughest gun laws in the country, but Baltimore continues to lead the state in the number of shootings involving illegal firearms.

"We are coming together to say we are not going to be silent in the face of gun violence anymore," said Jennifer Stapleton, of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

Keynote speaker Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said many, including herself, are still having a difficult time as parents processing what happened in Newtown.

"There is just entirely too much violence in the country and we have to do more, all of us in our own way, everyone has a different role to play and we have to do more to reduce violence," Rawlings-Blake said.

Efforts to pay tribute to the victims have been underway for some time. The Sandy Ground project, for example, has built 26 playgrounds in areas leveled by Hurricane Sandy. Each playground is named after one of the Sandy Hook victims.