Fans, Ono, bandmates mark 40 years since John Lennon's death

NEW YORK (AP) — Fans have remembered John Lennon on the 40th anniversary of the former Beatle's death with flowers, candles and songs in New York's Central Park.

In the Strawberry Fields section steps from where he was shot, musicians played Tuesday.

Photos of Lennon and other memorabilia ringed the inlaid "Imagine" mosaic.

Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono, posted on social media an image of Lennon's bloody eyeglasses and listed the number of people she said has been killed by guns in the U.S. since his death.

Living bandmates Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr both made posts with images of them in their younger days with Lennon.

"A sad sad day but remembering my friend John with the great joy he brought to the world. I will always be proud and happy to have known and worked with this incredible Scouser! X love Paul," McCartney tweeted.

"Tuesday, 8 December 1980 we all had to say goodbye to John peace, and love John. I’m asking Every music radio station in the world sometime today play Strawberry Fields Forever. Peace and love," Ringo said in a tweet.

The fourth member of the band, George Harrison, died in 2001.

On Dec. 8, 1980, as Lennon and Ono were walking outside the Dakota apartments on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a man, later identified as Mark David Chapman, walked up to them and fired, the Associated Press reported.

At the time, the AP reported that Chapman fired "five shots from a .38-caliber pistol. Lennon yelled ‘I’m shot’ and staggered up a few steps into the building and collapsed.”

Chapman was arrested and still remains in prison.

In August, Chapman told a parole board that he was seeking glory and deserved the death penalty for a "despicable" act.

Chapman has been denied parole 11 times, and goes up for parole again in August 2022.

In October, an annual tribute to Lennon was held virtually on what would have been the former Beatle's 80th birthday.