LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — Against a beautiful setting sun, along the shore of Mirror Lake in Lakeland, 49 doves circled overhead. One bird was released for each of the victims killed Sunday at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
In the grass that overlooks Mirror Lake, people decorated luminaries with special messages for the affected families. Children made wax catcher plates.
Amanda Downey is keeping close tabs on two people recovering in an Orlando hospital.
“It makes it scary. It makes you think about when you want to go out on the weekends, like, ‘Am I safe going to my favorite spot? Is it going to be fun for me to go out on the weekends now?'” Downey said.
New video shows a local girl moments before the shootings and then as they break out. Amanda Alvear, of Davenport, went to the club with her friend, Mercedez Flores.
Neither made it out alive.
Alvear recorded the sounds of gunfire, seemingly unaware of the grave nature.
Polk County is beginning its annual Pride Month events. Organizers said the shootings won’t deter the festivities.
“If it’s done anything, if there is a positive, I think it’s brought us closer together. I think it’s empowered us. I think its made it feel more important. I mean, just look around you today, this wouldn’t have happened otherwise,” Dustin Shay said.
“You don’t have to know someone who was shot to feel the pain many are feeling.
“Being the mother of a gay son, I mean, it could have been my son. And that really struck a chord with me,” Kerri McCoy said.
Here are the upcoming Polk County Pride events:
- Pride 4 Youth – Wednesday, June 15 – St. David’s Episcopal Church, 145 Edgewood Dr. in Lakeland – 6:30 p.m.
- Pride in Faith – Thursday, June 16 – St. David’s Episcopal Church
- Pride in the Park – Saturday, June 18 – Munn Park in Lakeland – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Pride after Dark – Saturday, June 18 – Club Main street, 1295 E. Main St. in Lakeland – 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.
- Pride Talks – Sunday, June 19 – Fresco’s Underground, 132 S. Kentucky Ave. in Lakeland – 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
