Inside a packed church, hundreds of residents from the Kalamazoo area of Michigan carried white candles and gathered to mourn the loss of six people who were killed on Saturday in a seemingly random act of murder.

Just hours after Jason Dalton, 45, was arraigned on Monday for multiple counts of murder and assault in connection with the shooting spree, clergy members from several churches led the congregation in song and prayer.

Residents described it as an effort to begin a healing process in response to the violent outburst over the weekend by Dalton, a situation unlike anything the community has ever imagined happening in their backyard.

“It’s something that we’ve seen across the United States,” said Steven Chamberlin, a comparative religion professor at nearby Western Michigan University. “I think we need to start addressing ... why this is happening with alarming regularity.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/23/kalamazoo-shooting-mourners-at-vigil-call-for-conversation-about-gun-violence