A candlelight vigil will be held at the rainbow crosswalk at Lawrence Avenue and Pandosy Street in downtown Kelowna tonight, June 12, 2016 to remember the victims of the Orlando mass shooting.
Image Credit: Okanagan Pride
June 12, 2016 - 3:34 PM
KELOWNA – The community is invited to a candlelight vigil in Kelowna tonight to remember victims of the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Florida.
Members of Okanagan Pride are organizing the vigil to be held at the rainbow crosswalk at Pandosy Street and Lawrence Avenue in downtown Kelowna tonight, June 12.
“Please join us to remember those lost and injured by this terrible tragedy,” says a post on the Okanagan Pride Facebook page.
A gunman wielding an assault-type rifle and a handgun opened fire inside a crowded gay nightclub early Sunday, killing at least 50 people before dying in a gunfight with SWAT officers, police said. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Authorities were investigating the attack on the Florida dance club as an act of terrorism. The gunman's father recalled that his son recently got angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami and said that might be related to the assault.
A post on the Kelowna event’s Facebook page says, “Let’s light some candles and come together to send a message of love and solidarity with all those LGBTQ folks in Florida, here in Canada, and across the world who have experienced hate and violence just for being who they are.”
The Kelowna candlelight vigil is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
— With files from the Associated Press
To contact a reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander or call 250-491-0331 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2016