In southwestern Maine, the state’s deadliest mass shooting occurred last October after a former Army reservist shot and killed 10 people at a nearby bar, leaving eight people dead, according to the Associated Press. bowling alleys reopened Friday.
“We’re excited to open,” Samantha Juray, co-owner of Just in Time Recreation, a bowling alley in Lewiston, said, according to the Associated Press. Outlet video report. “I know it’s definitely going to be a very long day and probably a good emotional day, but I think we’re totally ready to open up and meet some familiar faces. , I just know I’m ready to get back to my old life’s new normal. ”
Lewiston Mayor Carl Sherine attended the reopening ceremony. “This means we’re standing up again,” he said at the event, according to the Associated Press. “If you listen to everyone here, it’s clear that Lewiston can never be held back.”
An Associated Press video report showed the bowling alley filled with customers when it reopened and memorial bowling pins engraved with the names of the 18 victims. (Related: What we know about the suspected Maine shooter)
“I went in, and then I came back here, and that’s when I saw all the commotion, and I heard the gunshots, and I realized it was real. And the kids were running down this lane right here.” Tom Giberti, a bowling alley worker and shooting survivor, recalled the tragic incident while speaking with The Associated Press. “And when I went up, I made the children stand in front of me, and I helped them to the door; and as I was about to go through the door, [sic] When I got shot. ”
Giberti praised the community for supporting survivors like him and working hard to make reopening happen.
“I can’t get this out of my head,” Jurei said, almost crying as she backed away. “If we don’t move forward, I don’t think it’s going to make any sense, but I think we’re just going to let the people who have taken so much from us win.”
Robert Card, the gunman responsible for the Oct. 25, 2023, mass shooting that killed 18 people and injured 13 others, was an Army sergeant first class and a petroleum supply specialist in the Army Reserve. Although he was recognized for his accomplishments, he reportedly suffered from mental illness. He once told law enforcement officers who brought him to Keller Army Regional Hospital in West Point, New York, for psychiatric evaluation that he had heard various people say derogatory things about him. That’s what it means. Moreover, his close colleagues (one of whom reportedly feared Mr. Card might “suddenly commit a mass shooting”) were not worried about him, but rather “scared.” , because I’m likely to do something, because I have the ability,” he added. When asked about the comment, he said it didn’t mean anything.
Card appears to have committed suicide by shooting himself at the age of 40 after the shooting incident.
