Obama heads to Orlando, just like he's done for other cities devastated by mass shootings

ORLANDO, Fla. >> He’s coming, just as he did 17 days after the mass shooting in San Beardino, which left 14 dead. He’s coming, just as he did two days after 12 were killed in Aurora. He’s coming, just as he did two days after 27 were killed in Newtown. He’s coming, just as he did eight days after the mass shooting in Charleston that left nine dead.

President Barack Obama is coming to Orlando today, where this muggy, diverse, small-big Florida city now joins the swelling ranks of mouing municipalities marked by mass murder.

•Related story: President Obama visits families of San Beardino shooting victims

Jeifer Foster, a film producer and director in the city, said it was important to the community and to show solidarity.

“He will be welcomed,” Foster said. “His coming shows he’s standing with us.”

Foster met Obama in 2012 at a Florida campaign rally and he took his picture with her and Foster’s spouse, Mary Ae Metaxes. She kept that picture on her desk to remember that moment. But now she draws on that memory for the current moment.

“I remember he held us tight as the picture was taken,” she said. “It meant so much.”

The president was to arrive midmoing to spend time with victims and loved ones. If he travels down Orange Avenue to the coer of Miller Street at Orlando Regional Medical Center, he will see the dozens of bouquets and balloons left by people touched by the tragedy that claimed 49 lives before the gunman was taken down by police early Sunday.

If Obama works his way through the city, he will see a Subway Sandwich shop just minutes from Pulse nightclub — where the shooting occurred — with it’s marquee that reads “Pray for Orlando.” If his motorcade works its way down some of the city’s smaller, bumpy, red-brick roads, he will see gay pride flags on lampposts. If he goes past the Amway Center where the Orlando Magic play, he’ll see the electronic board that has read for the past few days “In memory of our neighbors who have been tragically been taken from us.”

•Related story: 50 dead in Orlando nightclub shooting, worst mass shooting in US history

There will be flags at half-staff at The Center, where the LGBT community has gathered for days to deliver food to victims families, mental health counselors, law enforcement and even media.

The scenes have been replayed before — not long ago — in another American city.

In San Beardino, “SB Strong” went up on electronic billboards and was emblazoned on T-shirts, becoming a rallying cry.

San Beardino Mayor Carey Davis said the city is still marked by the December shooting, when 28-year-old Syed Rizwan Farook and his 27-year-old wife, Tashfeen Malik, opened fire inside the Inland Regional Center.

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More than six months later, he alludes to “SB Strong” while praising the way the city came together in the midst of tragedy.

In Aurora, Colo., there were vigils. Flowers, candles and homemade signs were left near the movie theater. After that shooting happened in 2012 — during the opening night of “The Dark Knight Rises” — actor Christian Bale visited the victims who survived the shooting.

Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan said having Obama come to his city outside of Denver was deeply meaningful.

“I was glad he came. He had left it all up to us. He didn’t want to be a distraction, and I thought it would be good for him to be here,” Hogan said. “Him coming here meant a lot to the victims, but it also elevated the national focus on the event.”

Hogan said the Orlando shooting rattled him and said those affected in Orlando can expect it to marinate for a long time.

Newtown, Coecticut’s First Selectman Pat Llorda agreed.

She said she was battling a sleepless night when she got up to get a glass of water and tued on the news before sunrise and saw the early reports from the Orlando shooting. It took her back to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

“I cried. I got angry,” she said. “I thought ‘not again.’”

Llorda said she attended every funeral for the slain students and faculty at Sandy Hook. When asked how difficult that was, she was silent for a few moments.

“Very,” she said.

She said since the 2012 mass shooting, she’s taken it upon herself to contact the mayor of each city that has experienced a mass shooting. They’ve become so frequent, she’s developed template on how to do it.

First, she said, she follows the events in the news. Then she reaches out to clergy involved in the tragedy. Then she reaches out to the elected officials.

“I never thought this would be part of my job description,” she said. “Each time it happens, I think ‘Surely this will be the last one.’u2009”

Except it’s not.

Roseburg. Isla Vista. Santa Monica City College. Colorado Springs.

Now Orlando.

Foster said she believes the city has shown strength in the face of the tragedy. She said the community is drawing strength from the love and compassion being displayed every day. She said Orlando won’t be defined by the shooting.

Hogan remembers saying the same things.

“It’s going to take years for Aurora to get past this,” Hogan said. “The positive side of me says ‘we’ll get better and then —”

He paused. “Orlando happens.”

The Aurora mayor said the shock and pain never fully goes away. But, he said, the people of Orlando should know they’re not alone and that they have the support of the nation. He knows. He’s been there.

“Be strong,” he said. “Just love each other.”

Staff writer Ryan Hagen contributed to this report.