VIRGINIA BEACH — After a week filled with grief and tragedy, the community came together at Rock Church Thursday to remember the 12 lives lost on May 31.
Chief executive officer of the Christian Broadcasting Network, Gordon Robertson, opened the service saying “we want to underline tonight that you are welcome here tonight.”
“Whether you’re a Christian, you’re Jewish, you’re Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu. Or you’re in the group called ‘none of the above,’ you are welcome here tonight,” he said.
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CBN is based in Virginia Beach.
A week after the mass shooting inside a Municipal Center Building left 12 victims dead and four more injured, Robertson said he is calling for people to pray.
Among the dead were four engineers who worked to maintain streets and protect wetlands and three right-of-way agents who reviewed property lines. Others included an account clerk, a technician, an administrative assistant and a special projects coordinator.
Virginia Beach Police Chief Jim Cervera identified the shooter, who died in a gunbattle with police, as a longtime city employee who worked as an engineer in the Municipal Complex. The shooter sent an emailed resignation letter to his boss just hours before the shooting.
“For tonight, we come together as one community with no division. We come together to mourn the loss of innocent lives,” he said.
Robertson also said CBN is calling on Christians to “unite and show support for the victims and families of this senseless tragedy.”
He said the network is providing ways its subscribers “can support the families financially, physically and spiritually.”
CBN’s humanitarian organization, Operation Blessing, is working with United Way of South Hampton Roads and the city to raise money toward the “Virginia Beach Tragedy Fund.”
“CBN has had a prayer team on site, helping and praying with first responders,” Robertson said. “We are also reaching out to the community and trying to identify immediate needs.”
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Despite religious views, Robertson said “we have decided to live and we have decided to be one community that bands together and is strong together and realizes that together we can overcome this great evil.”
To donate to the “Virginia Beach Tragedy Fund” click here
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