ORLANDO, Fla. — Thousands gathered Wednesday evening to pay respects to the 49 victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting on the third anniversary of the massacre.
- Third anniversary remembrance ceremony held at Pulse
- Thousands gathered to pay respects
- Mayors Dyer and Demings, survivors and first responders were present
- RELATED: LIVE UPDATES: Pulse Tributes Pour in on 3rd Anniversary
The 2019 Annual Remembrance Ceremony was held by the OnePULSE Foundation at the Pulse Interim Memorial on South Orange Avenue.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings were among the many speakers who brought the Orlando community together for the hour-long ceremony.
Heather Martin, a survivor of the Columbine High School attack in 1999, was also among the speakers in the program.
Around 3,000 people gathered at the Pulse interim memorial site this evening for the third anniversary of the attack pic.twitter.com/CLIe1qdOaP
— Spectrum News 13 (@MyNews13) June 13, 2019
During the ceremony, a rainbow appeared across the street in the sky, catching the attention of those in attendance.
"If this doesn’t make you a believer, then I don’t know what will," said one of the many who turned around to capture the well-timed rainbow.
Amanda Bonya was one of the estimated 3,000 people in attendance at the ceremony.
"The very first year (after the tragedy) our community was very scared to go out to clubs, bars and other venues," Bonya said.
"Our government and the City of Orlando has done a great job making sure (the LGBTQ community) are included" she said, reflecting on how the community has grown in the last three years.
"(Orlando) is a huge example to other cities," she continued.
Moving forward, the OnePulse Foundation hopes to have a permanent memorial site built by June 2022, in time for the sixth anniversary.