A teary-eyed police chief represented the five Salt Lake City and Ogden officers who stopped the shooter from possibly hurting more people.

"This is the standard of excellence that polices your community on a daily basis," Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank said. "There's a hero in each one of us, and circumstances like this bring it to the surface."

He asked that citizens identify ways to prevent such crimes from ever happening again.

"I believe that if we allow crime and criminal acts to cause fear, intolerance, bigotry and even hatred, that we have lost," he said.

Tears of sadness and memories of Monday night plagued many in attendance at the city's ceremony of community support and gratitude. Words spoken by government officials calmed the nerves of many but also provided a stepping stone for moving on.

"I felt a lot of what I needed — connection, support, healing and compassion from what was said," Shawn Stradley, a Trolley Square employee and neighbor of the shooter's family, said. "I'm surprised at how well we're all doing after what happened there."

Megan Stevens, an employee at Trolley's Cabin Fever gift shop, where many of the victims were shot, said she was seeking closure from the vigil. She returned to the store to help clean up and expected the violence to still be there.

"It actually felt positive, there's a good energy there," she said. "It wasn't scary, and it wasn't different than any other day that I've been in there to work."

It's the hope of many who spoke Thursday that the community can heal quickly and become stronger from the experience.

"We join together tonight as a remarkable community in mutual welcome and respect to care for those who are affected by this tragedy," Anderson said. "To thank those heroes who saved lives and who keep our community safe and strong and to bring peace, friendship and love to all those around us."

---

E-mail: wleonard@desnews.com