City Churches to Ring Bells Friday for Newtown Shooting Victims

On Friday at 9:30 a.m., several churches in downtown Portsmouth and the Seacoast will ring their bells 26 times to remember the victims of the Newtown, Conn., shootings that happened on Dec. 15.

According to the Portsmouth Police Facebook page, the North Church and South Church are among the city houses of worship that will participate in the event requested by Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy.

Other churches that will also ring their bells in Portsmouth on Friday moring include the Middle Street Baptist Church, St. John's Episcopal Church and the First United Methodist Church.

On the morning of Friday, Dec. 14, 20 Sandy Hook Elementary School students and six educators were shot and killed by 20-year-old Adam Lanza. The shootings created a heightened sense of alarm for the safety of school children and staff nationwide and led to the decision by Portsmouth Police and the Portsmouth Schools to add a police officer at Portsmouth High School and to have Portsmouth Police officers do brief park and walk throughs at the city's three elementary schools.

On Wednesday morning, the Portland Press Herald reported that Maine State Police learned about a rumor on Facebook that some southern Maine schools in York and Cumberland counties were threatened this Friday, but Maine State Police later issued statement saying the rumor was unfounded.

At Maine Administrative School District 35 in Eliot, Maine, an e-mail sent home to parents by Mary Nash informed them that Eliot and South Berwick, Maine Police officers would be all of the school district's schools in both communities on Friday to add an extra layer of security.