short time that we have on earth and forever an eternity in heaven and let us glorify god and our love for him and let us glorify god and our love for one another and let us glorify god by responding to all violence by peace and to all evil with love. [ applause ] and so now let us bow our heads in prayer. loving and merciful god, we praise you and we adore you for your great mercy. you are truth, goodness, and beauty. you are the source of all that is good and all that is holy and you hate what is evil. you respond to evil, oh lord, with love and your boundless love, your victory over death is our hope for we know that we do not live in a lasting city. we entrust our beloved deceased to your love and mercy. we entrust our community to your comfort and peace. we entrust our fear, our doubt, our uncertainty to your providential love. be present to us tonight, be present to us in the days ahead. help us to love as you love and help us to build a community of peace. we pray are for the victims of this terrible crime, for the survivors and for their families. we pray for their friends and neighbors who love them. we pray for the conversion of the perpetrator of this terrible crime and we pray for our city, for healing, for strength to go forward. you are our hope, lord. we look to your resurrection as a sure sign that death does not defeat us, that death is not the evil. instead we pray that each of us may join in your victory of resurrection. we ask this through jesus christ our lord, amen. [ applause ] >> impasse for of mosaic church of aurora and the community of faith. leadership matters. leadership matters when things are going well but leadership really matters in moments of tragedy and crisis. here in aurora we are blessed. we are blessed with strong, capable, caring leaders and every segment and every level of our society. we are well served. we are well led. at the top of that heap is the mayor. please welcome our mayor, steve hogan. [ applause ] >> i'd like to take a moment and introduce the members of the aurora city council, those friends that i serve with and who represent this city well. it's not just a question of my leadership. it's a question of their leadership. so i would like to introduce them individually. i'd ask them to stand. city council member debbie hunter holland. [ applause ] city council member [ applause ] city council member melissa miller. [ applause ] city council member marsha. city council member peterson. city council member molly marker. city council member brad pierce. city council member bob lageer. and barbara. [ applause ] >> so as the mayor continues to -- the mayor continues to introduce the city council members, we'll get back in. as a matter of fact, he is done. let's listen in now to may juror steve hogan, mayor of aurora. >> i know the city council members join me in expressing our tremendous sorrow to the victims and their families impacted by this horrific tragedy. the thoughts and words i express tonight are those of my colleagues as well. the theater is in ward 3, the ward of council member marsha burgens. the apartment is in ward 1, the ward of council member mel li melissa miller. but this horrific incident touches all of aurora. it touches a community, a state, and a country. for aurora, this is also one of those moments that bring out the best in our community and who we are as individuals. tonight we honor loved ones, no longer with us. tonight we support the survivors. tonight we reach out to each other and love each other and love our neighbors and demonstrate what it means to be a community of good, caring, and loving people. tonight each of us is reaching into the depths of our souls and asking why, why did this senseless act happen? why did so many lives have to end short and in such a tragic way? these are questions to which there are no answers but in this time we offer our care and guidance. we turn to our family and friends and strength and support but if it may be impossible to arrive at an explanation that will make sense to us. what is not impossible is to determine our course of action from here, a course that will help us reclaim peace in our lives. arow ra has long been a place of community, diversity, and growth. we are a family in aurora. i came to this city as a young man and i raised my family here. we are good, hardworking people who believe in the goodness of our fellow men. we are coming together tonight as a family would to provide love and support, to those who lost loved ones and those whose lives have been scarred forever by this tragedy. and we are here for you. that is a message i have been sharing and will continue to share. there were people who stared harder in the the face and went out of their way to help others escape that theater. there are men and women in uniform from aurora -- [ applause ] there are men and women in aurora who go botwent above andd in response to this tragedy. and they were helped by many local, state, and federal agencies who are partnered with us as we work through this horrible situation. as i indicated, tonight is also a time to honor those who died as heroes. [ applause ] [ applause ] >> people like jon blunk, the 21-year-old whose act of heroism saved the live of jansen young and matt mcquinn saved the life of samantha and for those others who died but whose story is just unfolding or is yet to be told, because of them, more lives weren't lost and more harm wasn't done. all of us will forever remember you. on behalf of our community, we also want to express our deep appreciation for the support we have received from all over the metropolitan area, from colorado, from the nation, and literally throughout the world. it does mean something to us. [ applause ] and it means something to the families to know that hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people are with us and helping to share our burden of grief at this moment 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 enumerable acts of kindness of neighbors who defines who we are. [ applause ] our hearts are broken and our community is not. we can use it to strengthen each other. we will reclaim our city in the name of goodness, kindness, and compassion. let our city be a place where the vulnerable are supported by our strength. we will care for the families and we will care for each other. the countless acts of compassion and goodness, bravery and selflessness that mark this tragedy will be forever remembered and honored. and our community will be with you as you leave this place tonight. the pain is still raw and the healing is yet to begin but know that the city of aurora and the citizens of aurora and the citizens of this metropolitan area and the citizens of this state will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to help you. that is what families do and we are family. we experienced a tragedy but now is the time to grieve, now is the time to heal and now is the time to begin to overcome. at this point, i would like to introduce the governor of the state of colorado, someone that i have spent a great deal of time with these last two days in a variety of situations that i would never have imagined. ladies and gentlemen, john hickenlooper. [ applause ] >> thank you, mayor hogan. that was beautiful. i know that you've had as little sleep as i have. makes it all the more impressive. colorado is a good place filled with good people. and as you said, we will not -- rerefuse to be -- to even allow our communities to be defined by irrational, senseless violence. the great thinker and holocaust survivor victor frank, a man who certainly faced deep loss said if there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning and suffering. so what are we to make of suffering from such violence in what possible meaning can it have? philospherer and certainly wiser people than myself may have the answer but it may be no more complicated than a stranger reaching out to another person, or hugging your kids a little tighter, remembering to tell the people closest to you that you love them. as we gather here today, holding close to each other, we remember those who died on july 20th and honor the heroes. and we continue to seek ways to help givingfirst.org is a way to help support those survivors and the families of the victims and there are also so many people to thank. you know, allegedly mayor steve hogan has only been mayor for seven months. i find that hard to believe. he is so strong and so wise and i've seen him personally as we've gone through the hospitals and met with victims and their families, willing to give them his strength and police chief dan oates -- [ applause ] -- there will be many stories that unfold beyond what's already been told. many of those stories are going to talk about the heroic actions of aurora police officers again and again and again and from the moment they got news that they got the call that came through from dispatch, they were on the scene within 2 1/2 minutes. and literally within seconds they had apprehended the suspect and i refuse to say his name [ applause ] in my house, we're just going to call him suspect a. those officers when they arrived -- and i've talked to dozens and dozens and dozens of victims who had found their way out wounded from the theater or in the back, and they saw the first officers arrive and make the arrest and then they stood there for a moment and without hesitation they said -- a couple of ambulances aren't going to be enough. and they ran as fast as they could run across the asphalt parking lot to get their patrol cruisers and they started taking victims to the hospital. [ applause ] one aurora police officer took six victims to make sure they got to the hospital. [ applause ] i want to recognize all of the hundreds of first responders that came on moments notice -- i mean, from everyone. there were legions. and the health care and trauma professionals, i visited all seven hospitals, i've met surgeons within minutes there were hundreds of medical personnel making sure that this disaster was not what suspect a intended. to his family, we are more sorry than words can express. we, like you, struggle to find meaning in an act that defies any type of understanding. you know, the president and mayor hogan and i went and met with families of the deceased and it was almost like somehow god had come down and picked some of the most vibrant and alive people and taken them from us. and the families, again, without words, we can't -- we can't adequately communicate how deeply we share their grief. july 20th should never be about remembering this event or the killer. it should be -- it should be about remembering those individuals, right? about remembering those victims. [ applause ] so i'm going to ask you to help me here. i'm going to read 12 names and i'd like -- after i read each name, i'd like you each to say together, we will remember. jon blunk, you will remember. a.j.boik. >> we will remember. >> jesse childress. >> we will remember. >> gordon cowden. >> we will remember. >> jessica ghawi. >> we will remember. >> john larimer. >> we will remember. >> matt mcquinn. >> we will remember. >> micayla medek. >> we will remember. >> veronica moser-sullivan. >> we will remember. >> alex sullivan. >> we will remember. >> alexander teves. >> we will remember. >> and rebecca wingo. >> we will remember. >> we will remember you. [ applause ] >> we will remember you. we will honor you by celebrating life. we will honor you by living our lives a little better. today we will also want to remember those other heroes. you know, in the past 72 hours, going through the hospitals, i met individuals and families from indonesia, from connecticut, from new jersey, louisiana, jordan, texas, and to a person, these wounded want to stay in colorado. [ applause ] again and again we heard that they would not be defined by this event. we learn again about the kindness of strangers. a young man named pierce who had been shot three times, one with each of the weapons, the glock, the ar-15, and the shotgun, he works at the rescue mission. at one point he said, the o outpouring of light and love is so much more powerful than any darkness. [ applause ] or a young man named kerry, 20 years old, remembering four complete strangers lifting him up off the pavement and taking him to safety and after they picked him up and got him over, another woman, a stranger, took off her belt and tied his leg as a tourniquet. alan who was visited by a visiting nurse who, again, he didn't know who helped stop his bleeding, heather, the young woman from red robin. there were 37 people from red robin celebrating. she was there, 25 -- she was the other person whe had met who had been shot with all three weapons. you can imagine her ordeal. and yet behind her on her bed was a large "batman" pillow. and we taked about that shared strength and resiliency. her and her mother at one point looked up and said, it's amazing that one bad person has brought out so much good. [ applause ] you know, in the coming days we'll here more stories. i was with the president and he asked me to say that he couldn't be here without changing it. he was supposed to have left like an hour and a half ago and as he met these heroes, as he heard these stories, you know, the staff kept trying to drag him out and he wouldn't be dragged out. [ applause ] but he told the story of a young woman, stephanie davies, and she was with her friend, ali, was 19 and stood up at the very beginning and was shot in the neck. blood started to spurt out and stephanie, 21 years old, had the sense of being to put her finger over it and stop the bleeding, to stay with her and make sure that she got evacuated safely and the president visited them together in the hospital room. [ applause ] we're going to hear more stories in the coming days and we should celebrate those stories. we'll have a chance to honor each of the victims individually and to remember lives cut short for reasons that i can't explain. history tells us the pain from something like this never goes away completely but we do get stronger and it will be easier to move forward though it may take days, maybe months, maybe longer. to the families of those gathered here today, we remain here for you. our community is here for you. colorado is here for you and always will be. god bless you. [ applause ] >> thank you, governor. we are joined on the steps up here this evening by a large number of elected officials and dignitaries. i am not going to introduce each one of them individually. but i want you to know that here this evening we have our colorado united states senators, our colorado congressional delegation, we have governors -- i'm sorry. we have mayors from numerous metropolitan jurisdictions. we have city council members from metropolitan area jurisdictions. we have county commissioners from metropolitan area jurisdictions. we have past office holders. we have representatives of the fbi, our aurora fire department looking around to -- [ applause ] colorado state representatives, colorado state senators, our lieutenant governor, colonel dan from buckley air force base. [ applause ] members of school boards and other employees of the city of aurora who have assisted this evening. members of the regional transportation district, a whole host of people who are here because they care. [ applause ] at this time i would like to introduce veronica o. white, the chairman of the aurora human relations commission. >> good evening. i am veronica white. on behalf of the aurora human relations commission, i would like to extend to the families, the friends 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, it is your family, and you have members here that will 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, family, and friends, debbie stafford. [ applause ] >> as we're here tonight to honor the lives of incredible people, i would like to have us remember the victims, their families, and their friends. for those 12 who heroically have given their lives and those 58 who have been injured, for all of the hundreds ever attendees that were in that theater and have become victims, for the employees, for the owners, for the families, for the friends and those who have felt the ripple effect like a rock or a pebble that has been skipped across the water and the ripples continue, please, as we begin to pray, let us once again honor these 12 who have given their lives. jessica ghawi, 21. veronica moser-sullivan. [ applause ] alexander boik, 18. jesse e. childress, 29. jonathan t. blunk, 26. [ applause ] alex m. sullivan, 27. [ applause ] micayla c. medek, 23. [ applause ] matthew r. mcquinn, 27. [ applause ] alexander c. teves, 24. rebecca ann wingo, 32. and gordon w. cowden, 51. please join me as we pray. heavenly father we come to you now and ask that the comforter of your holy spirit would wrap your arm around each one who tonight suffers, suffers in their bodies, suffers in their mind. for those who are feeling the ripple effects, their families and their friends, may you comfort them. may you walk with them in the days ahead and may they continue to know that they have received an out pouring of new friends in this community, of new friends in this nation and that we as a family together will continue to love, to support, to encourage them and to help them in any way that we can. may the comforter of your holy spirit be with them in the night and in the wee hours when there are so few to talk to and most of all may they know your healing. may they know your love. may they know your power. may they know that they forever will know they are loved. and we thank you for your protection over each of them. in your son jesus' name, amen. >> thank you, pastor debbie. providing words of encouragement for early responders, pastor ron pherson. [ applause ] >> heavenly father, we are gathered here to bring comfort. in matthew 20, chapter 16th verse, i'm reminded it says, so the last shall be first and the first shall be last. and many are called and few are chosen. many times you are the last one that is remembered that you are a victim. you're the last one that people stop to think that you had to go through something. but you're the first on the call, the first on the scene. and we're grateful. many say they would but you were chosen to answer the call. and we are grateful that you have answered the call. from the days of john the baptist until now, it says, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence but the violence has taken by force. we thank you that you have not shrunk back from this challenge and that you, with great skill and with great dare, ran into the building, ran into places, willing to lay down your life for others. i want you to be reminded because what you've experienced, what you go through is something that tran sends what you do on your every day job. this is above and beyond the call of duty. but it also affects your family life and i ask god to comfort you and i want you to remember these words. has thou not known or heard the every lasting god, the lord, the creator of the ends of the earth neither is weary. there is no searching of his understanding. he giveeth power to the faint, to them that have no might. increases strength and even the youth may be weary and the young man shal