A day after 12 people were killed at a municipal center in Virginia Beach, a vigil was held in the parking lot of a movie theater in the coastal city.

The event was hosted by Lifehouse Virginia Beach church. After songs, prayers and comments from a pastor, the mic was handed to Virginia governor Ralph Northam.

Flanked by other state and local leaders, he thanked the crowd for attending the event, reminding them to think of the families of the victims of a "horrific tragedy."

"We must remember they all had families, they all had loved ones, they were parents they were daughters, sisters, brothers and now there's a void for their families," Northam said.

Northam added that such an event was nothing something he could understand.

"We must ask ourselves 'why do these tragedies happen,' and I don't have an answer for that, but God knows," Northam said. "But God is in control."

The governor implored the crowd at the church event to continue to rely on God, but also on another.

"We all do believe in a wonderful God and he will take care of us, but in the meantime, we need to be strong and we need to rely on our friends and our families and work together to move Virginia forward from there."

Another vigil is planned for Saturday evening at 6 p.m. at Old Dominion University outside Webb University Center.

Nate Chute is a producer with the USA Today Network. Follow him on Twitter at @nchute.