People gathered at the scene of the Dayton, Ohio, mass shooting to pay tribute to the victims on Sunday.

The Dayton Daily News reports people observed a moment of silence at 1:05 a.m. Sunday at Ned Peppers Bar in the city's popular entertainment district.

The song We Are Family was then played over loudspeakers.

The shooting took place just outside the bar. Nine people were killed in the Aug. 4 attack. More than 30 were injured.

Many people from out of town visited the district over the weekend, with testaments to the tragedy visible throughout the area, the newspaper reported. Women on the sidewalk were dispensing free hugs, and signs calling for solidarity and strength could be seen on nearly every business.

One sign read: "We don't heal in isolation, but in community." The phrase was accompanied by the date of the shooting.

Ty Sullivan came from Columbus with her family. She said she "felt a need to be in this area."

Jamie Rippey said she was with friends in the Oregon District a couple hours before the shooting, and came out this weekend "because I was so afraid after this happened."

"When that happened I thought, 'Oh my God, will I be able to come back down here?' I just didn't want to be so afraid of doing something I've always done, just to live," she said.

The police presence was noticeably heavier than usual. Dayton police Maj. Wendy Stiver had said the department was expecting larger crowds, and police would be there to "make them safe."

Investigators say 24-year-old Connor Betts opened fire with an AR-15 style gun outside the nightlife district's businesses. He was killed by police within less than 30 seconds.

Democratic presidential candidate and former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke speaks at the League of United Latin American Citizens' March For a United America, in El Paso, Texas, on Aug. 10. More than 100 people marched through the Texas border town denouncing racism and calling for stronger gun laws. (Cedar Attanasio/The Associated Press)

The shooting came just hours after another shooter claimed the lives of 22 people and injured dozens of others in an El Paso, Texas, Walmart.

Patrick Crusius, 21, surrendered to police after his vehicle was stopped at a nearby intersection. Authorities say Crucius later explained that he was targeting Mexicans during the attack.

Latinos on edge

Between the El Paso shooting and another in Gilroy, California, nearly two dozen Latinos have died, leaving some Hispanics saying they are looking over their shoulders for fear they could be next.

Latinos interviewed by The Associated Press say they now avoid speaking Spanish in public and are even seeking out possible escape routes in case a shooter suddenly barges in.

When Michelle Otero arrived at an art show featuring Mexican-American women, the first thing she did was scan the room. Two exits. One security guard.

Then she thought to herself: If a shooter bursts in, how do my husband and I get out of here alive?

Otero, who is Mexican-American and Albuquerque's poet laureate, had questioned even attending the crowded event at the National Hispanic Cultural Center a day after the El Paso shooting.

From Houston to Los Angeles, Latinos have taken to social media to describe being on edge, worried that just standing in line for a Taco Tuesday special outside a food truck or wearing a Mexican national soccer team jersey could make them the next target.

Bishop Jose Guadalupe Torres Campos leads a procession during a Mass for peace, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Saturday, marking the one week anniversary of a shooting that killed 22 at a Walmart in El Paso. (Christian Chavez/The Associated Press)

The events come against the backdrop of racially charged episodes that include then-candidate Donald Trump referring to Mexican immigrants as "rapists," Trump, as president, referring to migrants coming to the U.S. as "an invasion" and viral videos of white people chastising Hispanics for speaking Spanish in public.

"It's almost like we're hitting a climax of some kind," said Jennifer Garcia, a 23-year-old University of New Mexico student originally from Mexico. "Some people, especially our elders, don't even want to leave the house or speak Spanish."