DAYTON, Ohio _ As the son beat down past the alcove on Levitt Pavilion mourners and supporters gathered in downtown Dayton for prayer and reassurance during the city's first vigil to honor the nine lives lost in Sunday's mass shooting.
A woman passed out handfuls of Lifesaver breath mints, water bottle, a single white rose and a pack of Kleenex to anyone who needed it.
Many did.
They were there to mourn those killed early Sunday morning outside a popular Dayton bar. One of victims was the sister of suspected shooter Connor Stephen Betts, 25, of Bellbrook.
Pastor Joel Burton with Simple Street Ministries directed the informal gathering, as dozens more filed in and around the concert venue, and started off with a simple message before leading the crowd in prayer.
"Love overcomes!" he declared. "Love unites, it doesn't diversify, it unites!"
Everyone bowed their heads in a moment of silence, both young and old.
Isiah Parker, 13, held up a sign in the back of the crowd encouraging people to "Please Pray 4 Our City Dayton Strong."
"I just wanted to show support and let people who lost someone who feel sad and depressed to know that I'm here for them," he said.
Burton welcomed anyone who felt they needed to speak up to the stage.
One speaker implored the crowd ask God for his help.
"Everybody open your mouths and cry out to God," she said. "We need you!"
Another vigil and candlelight prayer was to be held in the Oregon District at 8 p.m. on Sunday. No further information was immediately available.
As officials at news conference read the names of the nine victims a half-mile down the street Dayton firefighters were in white protective suits spraying blood splatter off the pavement in the Oregon District.
Police officers began taking down tape around the bars and restaurants. They picked up the numbers cones that note evidence.
Behind Ned Peppers, a bar in the Oregon District, they picked up a large pile of shoes, purses, bags and baseball caps left at the shooting scene.
All the while the prayers began at an organized vigil at a Downtown pavilion.
A few dozen people attending a food truck festival just outside the Oregon District had to duck under police tape or find different places to park.
"We thought about not coming and we might not have if we knew it was going to be this," said Mark Green, 31, of Dayton, as he stood near the Twisted Taco food buggy. "It's just senseless. It's hard to make any sense of it."
On the corner of Jackson and Fifth Streets a woman named Alissa and her dog, Olive, stood at the police tape just outside of Ned Peppers where the shooting occurred.
Alissa, who did not want to give her last name because she lives four blocks away in the Oregon District started to cry.
"You feel weird coming down here and gawking," she said. "But this is my neighborhood and it's a beautiful place. I had 12 text messages that I woke up to asking me if I was OK. Now I'm here and it's just so devastating to see."
Carol Segar, 62, lived in the Oregon District for over 20 years. She used to go dancing at Ned Peppers Bar and grab drinks with her friends after work.
Segar lives in a condo downtown now, but she felt compelled to walk about to the corner of Fifth and Jackson Streets, sporting all white, after attending two services at St. Joseph's and Holy Trinity on Sunday.
"You see it on TV and it's always someplace else," she said. "It bother you, sure, but then when it's at home ... it's so much more real."
Segar drives for Uber and considers it a stroke of luck that her alternate drove last night instead of her. She often finds herself in the Oregon District at 1 a.m., prime time as she refers to it, to help get kids home safely.
"I woke up so worried for my UD students," she said. "It's usually such a safe place to go out."
James and Stephanie O'Hara went to bed thinking about El Paso and woke up this morning to news in Dayton: there was another mass shooting.
"You can't just say enough is enough," James, 51, said, referring to Mayor Nan Whaley's initial remarks.
James works on Fourth Street and the couple lives in Oakwood. Both were shocked to discover the shooter lived in Bellbrook. Their kids play in rival sports leagues against teams in Bellbrook.
"You have to ask yourself individually _ what am I going to do?" James said.
He plans on writing his congressman, Mike Turner, Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown, along with Whaley and the White House. James is also going to start a petition on change.org to bring common sense changes to existing U.S. gun laws.
"This is the perfect time to say now. Now is enough," James said. "We start small, locally and then we grow."
