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Boulder residents honor shooting victims with ten deep breaths, ten minutes of silence

Couple with Candles
Posted at 1:28 AM, Mar 28, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-28 14:47:31-04

BOULDER, Colo. -- Many residents in Boulder stepped out of the homes last night, took ten deep breaths and then stood silently for ten minutes, to honor the ten victims of Monday's shooting.

Some opted to head down to the memorial of flowers outside the King Soopers, where the shooting occurred.

"It's really important for everyone to be able to share their solidarity with the families of the victims," said Boulder Mayor Sam Weaver.

He added that Boulder got behind the "silent vigil" effort for safety reasons.

"It's a lot like the Howl that was going on early in the COVID lockdown," he said. "It's a way for people to be able to step outside with their neighbors and participate, without being too close to one another."

Andi Jason and David Simon were among those taking part.

"Tonight is the first night of Passover," Ms. Jason said. "We finished our Seder on Zoom. One of the things we were thinking about is what it means to be free, and one of the things is -- it means to be safe where you work, and where you live, and where you shop."

Jason added, they were going to light a candle at home, but decided to go down to the memorial fence.

"We lost our son when he was 16 and we know what these families are feeling," she said. "Their life is now forever divided between before and after, and it will never be the same for them, and our hearts are just full of love for them, even though we don't know them."

"I was working hard this week and didn't have an opportunity to absorb the reality of what happened here," Simon told Denver7. "It is important to feel, to experience this and to grieve, and to feel how wrong this (incident) is."

David said he could feel a connection to fellow human beings, just walking up and down along the fence.

"In this day and age, it's so difficult to feel sometimes, but I feel a common humanity here," he said.

Residents were also asked to put a candle in their window, so neighbors can see they too are in grief, mourning and recovery.

Earlier in the day, hundreds, if not thousands of people, stopped by the memorial. Many of them families with children.

They placed flowers on the fence, and lit candles.

Many shed tears, and many others stood in silent prayer.

It was the same scene in front of Boulder Police Headquarters, where slain officer Eric Talley's patrol car sat covered in flowers.

Both memorials helping the community cope with its grief.