One year later: Residents gather to remember 4 victims of Fredericton shooting

People in Fredericton will be honouring the four victims fromlast year's shooting in Fredericton by holding hands along the St. John River.

Hands and Hearts Across the City, an event that took place just three days after the shooting, will happenagain on Saturday.

"The idea is to create a hug for the city," said Jessica Millier, organizer of the event."To link hands across both bridges."

Two civilians, DonnieRobichaudand Bobbie Lee Wright, were killed along with police constablesRobbCostello andSara Burns in a shooting at an apartment complex on Fredericton's north side on Aug. 10.

Costello and Burnswere the first officers to respond tothe call on BrooksideDrive.

• Healing together: How Fredericton copes in aftermath of shootings
• Hands and hearts: Fredericton joins together to remember 4 shooting victims

Millier, along with the city,started planning this year'sevent over the winter. Theyreached out to the families of the four victims, who said they would appreciate something like this to remember their loved ones. Some family members will be taking part in the local event.

"If they would love the support, then we want to give it to them," she said.

The goal of the event is to form a chain from the centre of the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge all the way to the Westmorland Street Bridge on both sides of the river. The chain would be aboutsix kilometres long.

Millieris encouraging people to find a spot before 7 p.m. Shortly before that time,four flares will be launched into the air to commemorate the victims. After the fourth flare is launched, there will be a moment of silence and people will be encouraged to join hands.

Last year, almost 3,000people attended the event. Millierfeltsomething needed to be done to help the city heal.

"There were lots of emotions that evening for sure," she said.

"Looking across the river at the other people holding hands, it was very powerful."

After the event, Millier said,many people expressed their appreciation.

"There were a lot of people impacted that we don't really think about," she said. "Like people at the hospital, that had a lot to do that day and days later. And the [emergency medical technicians]or the first responders."

There will be six stations where people can check in.

Volunteers at each station will be able to tell people where to line up because some sections might already be filled.

Stations will be at the entrances to the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge and the Westmorland Street Bridge.

There will also be two stations along the centre points of the river. One will be behind the Giant Tigeralong the walking trail on the north side. Another will be near the Beaverbrook Art Gallery on the south side.

"It'smore than just coming together and honouringthose citizens," she said. "It's honouring people who are coming together and dealing with all the trauma through our experiences."