and i am so proud to be a citizen of aurora, colorado. [ applause ] heavenly father, we are grateful, dear lord, father, you have told us in philippians, father, we aren t to be worried and anxious about anything but we are to pray with thanksgiving, father god. telling you our requests and making them known to you and you said in verse 7 the peace of god that goes beyond any of our understanding will rest and rule in our hearts. give us peace in christ jesus and, lord, we need your peace right now. we need strength that s beyond our own strength. father, this outpouring of love, dear lord, shows the unity in this community. and father, we need, dear lord,
and to everyone, i want to state unequivocally and defiantly that it is not this senseless act of violence that marks us as a community. it is the lives and acts of these heroes and the innumerable acts of care for our neighbors that defines who we are. in aurora, while our hearts are broken, our community is not. we will take this experience and use it to strengthen our
to talk about the heroic actions of aurora police officers. again and again and again. and when from the moment, from the moment they got news they got the call that came through from dispatch, they were on the scene within two and a half minutes. and literally within seconds they had apprehended the suspect. and i refuse to say his name.
one aurora police officer took six victims. made sure they got to the hospital. i want to recognize all the hundreds of first responders that came on moment s notice. i mean from everyone. there were legions. and the health care and trauma professionals and the others, i visited now all seven hospitals. i have met many of the surgeons and the doctors. within 40 minutes there were literally hundreds of medical personnel making sure that this
good evening. i am veronica white and i m a chairman of the human relations commission and on behalf of the aurora human relations commission i would like to extend to the family and the friends and the victims of this senseless act our prayers and support as you go through this time, remember that you do have a village. the city of aurora is your village. it is your home, your family. and you have members here to help you through this grieving time. the aurora community has come together to lift up, provide comfort and support to each person affected by this senseless act of violence. it is my honor now to introduce to you a village of community members that are going to be able to provide words of comfort to each of you. and the very first person is going to provide victims, families and friends, pastor debbie stafford. as we hear tonight to honor