CONCORD, N.H. (WHDH) - Community members gathered for a somber salute in Concord, New Hampshire Monday, participating in a candlelight vigil for a security officer who was killed while working at New Hampshire Hospital on Friday.
New Hampshire’s Departments of Health and Human Services and Safety hosted the vigil to honor 63-year-old Bradley Haas and stand in support of staff and patients of the hospital.
More than 1,000 people came out to show their support.
Haas was a former chief of police in Franklin, New Hampshire, spending a total of 28 years at the Franklin Police Department.
Haas retired from the Franklin Police Department and was working as a security officer at New Hampshire Hospital, a state psychiatric hospital in Concord, when officials said a man opened fire in the hospital lobby, shooting and killing Haas.
The shooting happened Friday afternoon and ended when a state police trooper on patrol at the hospital fatally shot suspect John Madore, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office.
The shooting drew a massive emergency response on Friday and prompted an outpouring of tributes for Haas that continued on Monday.
“He was often the first person we met when we came in to work and the last person we saw when we left,” said Ellen LaPointe of New Hampshire Hospital during the vigil for Haas. “Under his quiet, unassuming demeanor, was a courageous professional who died protecting New Hampshire Hospital patients and staff.”
Also in attendance at Monday’s vigil, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said Haas was “an absolute hero.”
“He saved countless lives, which is incredible,” Sununu said.
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