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San Diego's French Community Mourns For Paris

People wait in line at a vigil outside Balboa Park's House of France to record their feelings about the deadly attack in Paris at Charlie Hebdo, a weekly magazine, Jan. 8, 2015.
Milan Kovacevic
People wait in line at a vigil outside Balboa Park's House of France to record their feelings about the deadly attack in Paris at Charlie Hebdo, a weekly magazine, Jan. 8, 2015.

Members of San Diego's French-American community expressed sadness Friday over the deadly attacks in their home country.

As of 4:30 p.m. Friday, more than 100 people in and around Paris were killed from shootings and explosions.

"It's very sad because the number of dead people is so high," said Andre Bordes, honorary consul at the San Diego Consul of France in La Jolla. "It never happened in France. It never happened."

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Bordes, who plans to gather with friends for comfort and to discuss ways to help, lived in Paris and still has family there.

The news prompted Caroline Barelli to organize a vigil at the House of France in Balboa Park. The event, "Pray for Paris," was originally scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday, but has been moved to Nov. 20.

"Another tragic day for our country," Barelli wrote on the Facebook event.

The attack comes 10 months after a shooting at the Paris newspaper Charlie Hebdo left 12 people dead. More than 200 people gathered at the House of France for a vigil following that attack.

San Diego police and county sheriff's officials said they were not taking increased security measures on Friday.

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"No credible threats here, however, we are working with federal, state and local agencies to maintain vigilance," said San Diego police Lt. Scott Wahl in an email.

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer said all necessary precautions were taking place.

"Our prayers tonight are with the people of Paris," he said. "We ask everyone to remain vigilant and if you see something, say something."

Contributing to this report were KPBS staffers Hoa Quach, Matthew Bowler, Susan Murphy, Claire Trageser and Andrew Bowen. City News Service also contributed.

Corrected: April 25, 2024 at 8:00 PM PDT
CORRECTION: The original version of this story said a vigil at the House of France would be held Saturday. Organizers have since changed it to Nov. 20.