Maine residents hold vigil for victims of state’s worst mass shooting
Residents of Lewiston return to work on Monday, the morning after coming together to mourn those lost in Maine’s worst mass shooting.
They gathered on Sunday evening, hugging one another, singing a rousing rendition of Amazing Grace, and seeking guidance out of these dark days from leaders who talked of hope, healing and the power of prayer.
More than 1,000 people attended Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul for a vigil in Lewiston, where days earlier a gunman fatally shot 18 people. Some put their heads in their hands as the names of the people who died in Wednesday’s shooting were read. Others quietly wept.
Hundreds more watched a live stream of the vigil shown on a huge screen in front of the church. Some held American flags and others had lit candles in cups marked with the names of the dead and injured.
“Remember to seek healing over relief. Relief is temporary. Healing is permanent. Pain is temporary,” the Rev Gary Bragg of the Southern Baptist church in Lewiston said. As he spoke, he asked the crowd to welcome their neighbor to the service with the words “I am so glad you are here” and then to ask how they might help them.
The vigil came two days after the suspected gunman, Robert Card, was found dead on Friday evening, of a selfinflicted gunshot wound.
Christian leaders along with a rabbi and an imam spoke at Sunday’s event of the pain from the shooting but also the healing process and the resilience of the community of 40,000. There was also a speaker from Lewiston’s deaf and hard of hearing community, as four of its members were killed in the shooting while they were at a games night.
Kevin Bohlin, who represented the deaf community, signed his message, which was delivered through an ASL interpreter, about how the tragedy hit close to home for the community. Several in attendance could be seen signing to one another throughout the vigil.
The victims are now gone, he said, “but they are directing us to come together and make a difference in this world.”
The Rev Todd Little from the First United Pentecostal church of Lewiston spoke at the vigil of a diverse community that now has something new in common after the tragedy, talking of “shared brokenness, worry, fear and loss”.
He also vowed that the community was bigger than the tragedy and will emerge not just “Lewiston Strong” but “Lewiston Stronger”.
Meanwhile, Lewiston was slowly reopening. Lewiston schools released a limited schedule for the week “with room for reflection as we move forward”. Only the staff was returning on Monday, students were due back Tuesday. The Lewiston city hall planned to reopen on Monday afternoon.
Authorities recovered a multitude of weapons while searching for Card and believe he had legally purchased his guns, including those recovered in his car and near his body, said Jim Ferguson, the special agent in charge of the Boston office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He declined to discuss any specifics.
Investigators are still searching for a precise motive for the massacre, but have increasingly focused on Card’s mental health history.
The state public safety commissioner, Michael Sauschuck, said Card believed “people were talking about him and there may even have been some voices at play”.
Family members of Card told federal investigators that he had recently discussed hearing voices and became more focused on the bowling alley and bar, according to law enforcement officials who spoke with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to discuss details of the investigation.
On Sunday, at Schemengees Bar & Grille, one of the shooting sites, workers in white hazmat suits could be seen methodically cleaning up a staircase. Yellow tape surrounded the site and a small memorial erected nearby featuring colorful balloons, flowers and a poster that read: “Be Strong, Lewiston.”
Leroy Walker, an Auburn city councilor and father of one of the victims, was greeting people at a trickor-treat event on Sunday, hosted by an organization he leads. He smiled broadly when the children hugged him but he became emotional when he spoke of his son, Joseph, who normally would have joined him at the event.
“It’s been a tough few days, trust me. The heart doesn’t stop bleeding,” he said.
The deadliest shootings in Maine’s history stunned a state of 1.3 million people that has comparatively little violent crime.
Four of the 13 injured remain in hospital.
The Lewiston shootings were the 36th mass killing in the US this year, according to a database maintained by AP and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. The database includes every mass killing since 2006 from all weapons in which four or more people, excluding the offender, were killed within a 24-hour time frame.