ST. CLOUD-- Less than a week after an active shooter entered the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, members of the central Minnesota community came together in remembrance.

The St. Cloud State University Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education hosted an interfaith event in the university's Welcome Center on Thursday afternoon.

Members of the community, local faith leaders, city representatives, and law officials attended the hour-long gathering filled with prayer, remarks and a moment of silence. Mark Geller, a local Jewish leader, lead one of the prayers.

Our thoughts turn to those whose lives have been a blessing to humanity. We recall the people whom death has recently taken from us, their family, and their friends.

The event was an opportunity to honor and mourn the 11 victims in Pittsburgh as well as show solidarity, love, and support for Jewish congregations all across the country and in St. Cloud. Monica Segura-Schwartz, an organizer for CreateCommunity spoke about coming together in the wake of the tragedy.

We know that in the darkest hours of humanity, light shines the brightest when we come together in love and support and speak out together against such atrocities.

The 11 victims of the shooting are 84-year-old Bernice Simon, 86-year old Sylvan Simon, 88-year-old Melvin Wax, 54-year-old David Rosenthal, 59-year-old Cecil Rosenthal, 65-year-old Robert Gottfried, 66-year-old Jerry Rabinowitz, 69-year-old Irving Younger, 71-year-old Daniel Stein, 75-year-old Joyce Fienberg, and 97-year-old Rose Mallinger.

The alleged shooter, 46-year-old Robert Bowers of Baldwin, Pennsylvania faces charges of 44 federal crimes.

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