Residents of Newtown, Connecticut, gathered at a somber prayer service on Sunday to remember the 20 young children and six educators killed by a gunman two years ago in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
The town, located some 78 miles (126 km) northeast of New York City, is holding no official events to commemorate the Dec. 14, 2012, massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. There were no formal events last year either.
"We refuse to give in to violence that shattered our dreams that day," the Rev. Matthew Crebbin of the Newtown Congregational Church told about 200 people at the historical Newtown Meeting House, including U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal.