Joe Saleem, right, of Mooresville, North Carolina, listens to the ringing of a bell while standing with others near the steps of Edmond Town Hall. (EPA)
NEWTOWN, Conn. — The chiming of bells reverberated throughout Newtown on Friday, marking one week since the crackle of gunfire in a schoolhouse killed 20 children and six adults in a massacre that has shaken the community — and the nation — to its core.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy gathered with other officials in rain and wind on the steps of the Edmond Town Hall as the bell rang 26 times in memory of each life lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The gunman also killed his mother before the massacre, and himself afterward.
Officials didn’t make any formal remarks, and similar commemorations took place throughout the country.
The White House said President Barack Obama privately observed the moment of silence.
Traffic stopped in the streets outside the town hall in Newtown as bells rang out to honor the dead.
Malloy, taking deep breaths with his hands folded in front of him, was joined by the Newtown superintendent of schools, lawmakers and other officials as bells rang out at the nearby Trinity Episcopal Church.
Firefighters bowed their heads around a memorial filled with teddy bears, other stuffed animals and a New York Giants pillow. Some hugged and onlookers shook their hands afterward.
“When I heard the 26 bells ring it just melted my soul,” said Kerrie Glassman, of Sandy Hook, who said she knew seven of the victims. “It’s just overwhelming. You just can’t believe this happened in our town.”
Among those who gathered in Newtown was a group of 13 survivors of the 2005 school shooting on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota. The group drove nearly 1,500 miles to support and comfort the families and survivors. They brought gifts intended to bring a message of resilience and hope, including a plaque that survivors of the 1999 Columbine shooting gave to them after their experience.
“This is just something we had to do,” said Ashley Lejeunesse, 23, who was also in the Red Lake classroom.
The chiming of bells reverberated throughout the nation and there were observances around the world.
In Washington, religious leaders from a broad range of faiths gathered at Washington National Cathedral to call for their congregations to lobby Congress to enact gun control and mental health reforms to address pervasive gun violence. In a garden beside the National Cathedral, they paused to listen as a funeral bell tolled.
In New York City, bells at the historic Trinity Church near the World Trade Center tolled 28 times. In Massachusetts, bells in churches around the state, including Boston’s historic Old North Church, rang in honor of those killed in the attack. A moment of silence was observed throughout Colorado, and bells rang out in Denver.
In the west African nation of Liberia, 20 children from a school sponsored by the Newtown Rotary Club gathered at the US Embassy to give their condolences. Each child from the Caroline Miller School in Monrovia placed a flower on a poster bearing the name of a victim of the shooting.
When the bells tolled to honor the victims of last week’s shooting rampage, they did so 26 times, for each child and staff member killed.
Newtown and environs weathered another day of funerals Friday.
A standing room-only crowd filled the St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church in Trumbull for the funeral of Mary Sherlach. The school psychologist who rushed toward the gunman during the shooting was remembered as a caring professional, a fan of the Miami Dolphins and a woman who ultimately put the lives of others ahead of her own.