I'd like to thank Senator Mark Udall (D. CO) for this:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/...
The names of the victims of the Aurora theater shooting were read on the floor of the U.S. Senate Thursday morning.
"Let’s never forget these names," Senator Mark Udall, D-Colorado, said before reading the names into the congressional record. "Matt McQuinn, Micayla Medek, Jessica Ghawi, Gordon Cowden, Jesse Childress, John Larimer, Jonathan Blunk, Veronica Moser-Sullivan, Alex Sullivan, Alexander Teves, Rebecca Wingo and Alexander [AJ] Boik."
Udall thanked and honored the countless police and other emergency responders who cared for wounded and stopped the shooter.
"Today, I want to mark the anniversary of this tragedy and to honor the strength that so many Coloradans have shown, both on that day and in the weeks and months since," Udall said. "The Aurora theater shooting shook us, shocked us, outraged us, but as I said one year ago, it did not break us."
The Senator spoke for about six minutes, then asked asked people to remember this Saturday.
"Let's take time to remember those who have lost their lives and to honor the resilience of our neighbors who press on with their lives undoubted by this terrible act," Udall said. "I hope we can draw strength from the tragic loss of these 12 wonderful, beautiful people and that it leads us to redouble our efforts to be better people, to be more understanding to our friends and be more loving to our families. Inspire to live our lives with the courage that the people of Aurora and Colorado have shown over the course of this last year." - ABC 7 Denver, 7/18/13
Udall also took the time to talk about two of the victims, 26-year old Jon Blunk and 24-year old Alexander Teves, who were killed trying to protect their friends. Udall also talked about two of the survivors, Zack Golditch, an offensive lineman at Colorado State University and Marcus Weaver, a young man who was shot but recovered. Since Saturday will mark the one year anniversary of this senseless tragedy, I think it's a good idea to see how the survivors and the victims' families have been holding up:
http://www.denverpost.com/...
Stefan Moton, a 20-year-old man paralyzed from the neck down after being shot in an Aurora movie theater a year ago, flashed his smile Wednesday night — a smile his pastor, Chris Hill, said "rivals the sun."
"We believe morning is coming to Aurora," Hill told more than 3,000 at The Potter's House of Denver. "Aurora means the dawn."
To Moton, Hill yelled: "We've got your back!"
The crowd cheered loudly and gave standing ovations to Moton and another guest, Ashley Moser, the 26-year-old mother who lost her 6-year-old daughter, Veronica, in the shooting and was herself paralyzed from the waist down. She also suffered a miscarriage.
Twelve people were killed and 70 were injured in the shooting.
"But the devil is mad! Aurora is still here!" Hill screamed. - Denver Post, 7/17/13
http://www.cbsnews.com/...
One year ago this Saturday, a gunman opened fire in a Colorado movie theater, killing 12 people.
Of the 70 others who were injured, none came closer to death than Caleb Medley. But he is now 24 years old and alive, and for that, his wife gives a lot of credit to a blessing from above.
Hugo Medley turns one next week. He just started walking, but for almost a year, he's been helping his mother, Katie, move forward.
"I don't think I could have done it without Hugo, for sure," said Medley.
Katie Medley was nine months pregnant when she and her husband, Caleb, went to the midnight movie that turned into a slaughter. Caleb was shot in the head.
He was in a coma in the same hospital where Hugo was born four days later. That's when we first met Katie. - CBS Evening News, 7/18/13
http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/...
Eugene Han was sitting beside his girlfriend Kirstin Davis during the Aurora showing of "The Dark Knight Rises," and joining Piers Morgan this evening he recalls the moment the terror began:
"When James Holmes walked in that night, I knew something was going to happen because no one really walks through an exit door - especially through an exit door. So I pulled her down," he explains." I didn’t really see her come down with me. She was, uh, still in her chair and all the shooting happened and she was still right next to me. So I made sure that James Holmes couldn’t get to her. If anything, at least, put my body between her and the shooter."
In the coming months, Davis and Han would take their relationship to the next level and become engaged, perhaps buoyed by how that dangerous summer evening had brought them closer together:
"It was romantic in the way her proposed," shares Davis. "It just kind of brought me back to that night and how he saved me so of course I’d want to keep him around."
Rather than avoiding the thought of July 20, and dodging its memory, instead the couple chose to embrace it, and will get married on the exact date, this Saturday:
"We were driving back from Texas and I asked if she would want to get married on that date," Han tells the "Piers Morgan Live" host. "My thought process was that everyone has a date that they want to get married on that means something special to them. For us it was a night of terror and all that so we wanted to change the date and, you know, make it our own." - CNN, 7/18/13
We cannot forget senseless tragedies like the Aurora shooting of the Sandy Hook shooting. Especially as we continue to fight for gun control. On Saturday, please do take a moment of silence in honor of the victims and their families.