President Obama Cancels Orlando Trip Due to CO Shootings
Friday, July 20, 2012
By: Nicole Creston

July 20, 2012 | WMFE - President Barack Obama will not make his scheduled appearance at Rollins College in Winter Park Friday afternoon. Mr. Obama has cut short his two-day campaign swing through Florida due to the mass shooting in a movie theater near Denver early Friday morning.

Twelve people were killed when a gunman threw a tear gas canister into the theater, then opened fire. Dozens more were injured.

President Obama spoke briefly Friday morning to supporters who had gathered in Fort Myers for his scheduled campaign stop.

“I am so grateful that all of you are here,” Mr. Obama told the crowd. “I am so moved by your support. But there are going to be other days for politics. This, I think, is a day for prayer and reflection.”

He also asked those in attendance to observe a moment of silence for the shooting victims.

The president is returning to Washington, D.C. White House officials say he spoke with the governor of Colorado and the mayor of Aurora, the Denver suburb where the shooting took place.

Follow the developing situation in Colorado at the Colorado Public Radio website.