Hundreds attend vigil in light of Fort Myers violence

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FORT MYERS, Fla. – Hundreds of people packed inside the First United Methodist Church in Downtown Fort Myers Sunday evening as a way to grieve and mourn the senseless killings that have recently taken place, however city leaders are also seeing it as another step to stop the violence.

Mayor Randy Henderson led the vigil as part of his joint task force he started last month. The main message was, “enough is enough.”

“I saw a lot of people who were clinging to this action of coming together as concerned citizens who want to do better and it was a very warm, uplifting experience,” Mayor Henderson said.

He says he believes this is a necessary step in taking action against the violent crimes.

“This is a very human step. It’s a step that–it touches people.”

Roughly 250 names of homicide victims over the last 15 years played on the monitors throughout the service. It even left Fort Myers Police Chief Dennis Eads speechless.

“I haven’t got a lot to say. I think that says it all–enough is enough.”

Community leaders say they were excited by the large, diverse turnout and think this will have a positive impact on their efforts to keep Fort Myers safe.

“That’s the real issue here–what do we do as a community to come together to begin to address this type of problem so that we can address the gang problem and get the drugs off the street?” Lodovic Kimble said.

Mayor Henderson says he plans on having more of these vigils in the future. Trust WINK News to let you know when those will happen.

 

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