Services to mark 1 year since 49 killed in Orlando gay club

ByBy: MIKE SCHNEIDER AP logo
Sunday, June 11, 2017
The Pulse Nightclub in Orlando
The Pulse Nightclub in Orlando.
AP-AP

ORLANDO, FLORIDA -- Church bells will toll throughout the Orlando area as residents reflect on the 49 patrons killed during a massacre at the gay nightclub Pulse in the worst mass shooting in recent U.S. history.

Starting in the wee hours Monday, and continuing almost 24 hours later, survivors, victims' families, city officials and central Florida residents will remember the victims with four services.

The first service is closed to the public, and it's being held at the nightclub for survivors, local officials and club employees. It will overlap with the exact time gunman Omar Mateen began firing shots a little after 2 a.m. on June 12, 2016.

It is followed by a mid-day service at the nightclub, and an evening gathering in downtown Orlando.

A final late-night service is being held at the nightclub.