NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WMOT) – Local media are reporting a Middle Tennessee man is among the 50 people killed Sunday morning in Orlando in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
No details are available, but WSMV-TV is reporting that 20-year-old LaVergne resident Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo is listed among the dead.
Vigils honoring those murdered in Orlando were held across the state Sunday. WATE-TV says the group Pridefest put on a vigil last night in Krutch Park in downtown Knoxville. In Memphis a memorial gathering was held at an LGBT community center.
WRCB-TV reports that in Chattanooga a memorial service was conducted at the First Christian Church, while in Murfreesboro a vigil was held at the courthouse on the city square.
Chris Sanders with the Tennessee Equality Project led a vigil of several hundred people at Public Square Park in Nashville Sunday night. He says he’s heard from Tennesseans who traveled to Orlando on vacation.
“Check in from people on Facebook who said ‘You know, we were thinking about going there that night but we didn’t.’ So there is relief. Facebook checkins have been wonderful because they allow people to know who’s safe.”
The Nashville Business Journal says the organizers of the Nashville Pride Festival & Concert scheduled for the weekend of June 24 are discussing additional security for the largest annual LGBT gathering in the mid-sate.
Gov. Bill Haslam has order that flags at State buildings and offices be flown at half-staff through Thursday in honor of those slain.