State News

Perdue encourages moment for 'Day of Mourning'

Gov. Beverly Perdue is urging North Carolina residents to observe a moment of silence in memory of the shootings at a Connecticut elementary school.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Beverly Perdue is urging North Carolina residents to observe a moment of silence in memory of the shootings at a Connecticut elementary school.

Perdue has signed a proclamation declaring Friday as a "Day of Mourning." She's asking residents to participate in a moment of silence at 9:30 a.m. for a time of reflection and mourning.

The national moment of silence ceremony will be live streamed on WRAL.com and shown on WRAL-TV beginning at 9:30 a.m. 

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy has written governors across the nation, asking them to participate. Malloy is also asking houses of worship and government buildings to ring bells 26 times during that moment in honor of each life lost in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Nationwide, churches will ring their bells 26 times at 9:30 Friday morning — exactly a week after the shooting occurred — in memory of the victims. Two gold balloons, one a 2, the other a 6, are tied to a bridge. Handwritten tributes mention 26 snowflakes. "26 angels will guide us," reads one.

A gunman armed with a military-style assault rifle and several high-capacity ammunition magazines slaughtered 20 children and six teachers and administrators at the school in Newtown, Conn., last Friday.

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