With flags lowered across the state, Maine residents whose sense of safety was shattered last year by a mass shooting planned to mark the anniversary Friday in ways big and small, including a memorial service.
The killings of 18 people by an Army reservist in Lewiston drove home the stark reality that no corner of the country is safe from gun violence, including a state where people often boast of the low crime rate.
The largest of the gatherings was expected at the city's hockey arena, where there were to be moments of silence at the time of the shootings.
Community has emerged as an important component of the grieving process since the shootings, Elizabeth Seal said through a sign language interpreter at an event with victims and survivors last week. Seal’s husband, Joshua Seal, was killed in the shootings.
“Once justice is served, I feel maybe we can start that process of healing,” Seal said through the interpreter. “But in the meantime, we're going to stay ‘Lewiston Strong.’”
Seal and dozens of other survivors and relatives of victims recently began the formal process of suing the U.S. Army for what they say was a failure to act to stop the 40-year-old reservist, Robert Card.
In a video statement on the anniversary, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills called it “one of the darkest days of Maine history.”
At the high school, which became a command post with helicopters using athletic fields and hundreds of police vehicles in the parking lot, students marked the anniversary with a moment of silence.
“We will never forget the unimaginable pain and loss that stems from that terrible day,” Superintendent Jake Langlais said in a statement. But, he added, “a lot of good has happened since that terrible day.”
The shootings on Oct. 25, 2023, happened at a bowling alley and a cornhole tournament hosted by a bar and grill. Card died by suicide, and his body was found two days later.
Justin Juray, owner of the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley where the shooting began, said the venue would close for the day Friday to let staff be with their families. He said it had been a tough week as the anniversary approached, and Friday would be particularly hard.
“We don’t need work to add to their stress,” he said. Juray and his wife, Samantha, reopened the bowling alley in May, six months after the shooting. Two staff members were among the eight people killed there.
All told, more than 130 people were present at the two sites, according to the state’s director of victim services. In addition to the 18 killed, there were 13 wounded by gunfire and 20 non-shooting injuries.
Vice President Kamala Harris issued a statement Friday praising the Lewiston community’s unity, resilience and strength.
“They have responded by reminding the nation of the unacceptable fact that far too many families have experienced the tremendous pain and trauma caused by the epidemic of gun violence,” Harris said Harris. She highlighted what she called the Biden administration’s “critical progress” on gun safety and violence prevention but added that more work remains.
At the state level, the Maine Legislature responded to the shootings by passing new gun laws that bolstered the state’s “yellow flag” law, criminalized the transfer of guns to prohibited people and expanded funding for mental health crisis care. The gunman’s family and fellow Army reservists reported that he was suffering from a mental breakdown.
Mills said the healing isn’t over. On Friday, she urged Maine residents to remember the strength and resilience that emerged following the tragedy, even “as we mourn and pay tribute to those we lost, as we support those who were injured, those who bear wounds both seen and unseen, and as we honor all those who have been affected."
"As we continue down the long and difficult road of recovery, let us remind ourselves that we are not alone. That we are ‘Lewiston Strong’ and that we will continue to heal together," she said.
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said the healing isn’t over.
“As we continue down the long and difficult road to recovery, let us remind ourselves that we are not alone, that we are ‘Lewiston Strong,’ and that we will continue to heal, together,” she said.
Associated Press visual journalists Robert F. Bukaty, Rodrique Ngowi and Nick Perry contributed to this report.
