Newtown shooting: Hudson Valley joins mourning
Photo credit: Faye Murman | From left, Mary Caruso, Alicia Garofalo and Maria Harris, all of Dobbs Ferry, attend a vigil on the Dobbs Ferry waterfront for the victims of those killed in Newtown, Conn. Garofalo and Harris had never met before. "I can't stop crying," Harris said as she wiped away tears. (Dec. 16, 2012)
Videos
Funerals to be held for 2 Newtown victims
Sandy Hook shooting tightens security at HV schools
Obama offers love
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut
Candlelight vigil for Newtown victims in Dobbs Ferry
Minute-by-minute timeline
The Hudson Valley continued to mourn the victims gunned down in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre last week, while in Washington and nationwide a debate about gun control took center stage.
Vigils for the victims of the rampage that claimed 20 children and eight adults, including the gunman and his mother, will be held at two Westchester locations Wednesday.
One ceremony will start at 6:30 p.m. at DeLuca Park in Elmsford and the other will be at 7 p.m. at Union Baptist Church in White Plains.
MORE:
Obama blasts GOP over failed gun control bill
| Sandy Hook school shooting: Complete coverage
| Minute-by-minute timeline
PHOTOS:
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut
| Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims
| Cartoonists respond to the Sandy Hook shootings
VIDEO:
Sandy Hook student talks about massacre
| Obligation to gun victims
| President honors slain Sandy Hook educators
Two victims with ties to Pawling also will be remembered.
A funeral Mass for Daniel Barden, whose mother is Pawling Elementary School second-grade teacher Jackie Barden, will be offered at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown.
Visiting hours for Mary Sherlach, psychologist at Sandy Hook where 27 died, will be held 4-8 p.m., Thursday at the Abriola Parkview Funeral Home in Trumbull, Conn. On Friday, a memorial Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. for Sherlach at St. Stephen Church, 6948 Main St. in Trumbull.
Gunman Adam Lanza, 20, shot his mother four times in the head at her home before going on a shooting spree using a Bushmaster AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. Lanza ended the carnage when he shot himself at the school as police closed in.
Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, based in Manhattan, said Tuesday it plans to sell its stake in weapons manufacturer Freedom Group, maker of the Bushmaster.
Many members of Congress, including several backed by the National Rifle Association, a gun-advocacy group, have declared that they are ready to consider gun-control legislation. The NRA itself said it will hold a news conference Friday to disclose "meaningful contributions" designed to avert a recurrence of violence as seen in Newtown.
"Put guns on the table. Also put video games on the table. Put mental health on the table," said Rep. Jack Kingston of Georgia, a 10-term Republican backed by the NRA.
On Friday, one victim, the great-niece of retired White Plains Fire Chief Thomas Gorbutt, will be laid to rest in Newtown.
Grace McDonnell, 7, dreamed of being a painter, her parents said.
Grace's mother, Lynn McDonnell, said her family will try to carry on the spirit of her daughter: "Grace didn't have an ounce of hate in her and so we have to live through Grace."
With The Associated Press and News12
