The state of Maine is making a slow return to normal after the October shooting that devastated the state.
The shooting, with a death toll of 18, was done by Robert Card, a Bowdoinham, Maine resident, on Wednesday, October 25. Card began his rampage at a bowling center in Lewiston, then moved to other local establishments. The attack led to a statewide manhunt, which ended on Friday, October 27, when his body was found with self-inflicted gunshot wounds in a trailer a few miles from the crime scenes.
Just-In-Time Recreation Center was the first shooting location at around 6:50pm on Wednesday, October 25, closely followed by Schemengee’s Bar and Grille. The two establishments are a little over four miles apart, yet Card traversed the distance in just under twenty minutes, starting his second attack around 7:08 pm. Maine State Police were dispatched to both locations, kickstarting a 72-hour manhunt that shut down all schools and businesses in Cumberland, Androscoggin, and Sagadahoc counties.
Mary Anderson, a resident of southern Maine for more than 50 years, woke up the morning after the shootings with the knowledge her state had irrevocably changed.
“When the names of hundreds of businesses, colleges, non-profits, and school districts that were not going to open were published on every local TV station, I realized that the situation was grave; Robert Card was an existential threat to our entire state.”
Maine has the 40th highest rate of gun deaths in the United States, with a rate of 9.9 deaths per 100,000 people; 89% of these deaths are ruled suicides; another 7% are homicide by non-law enforcement personnel. These numbers place Maine at the 50th highest rate of gun homicides in the country, aka the safest in the United States, according to the Everytown Research Database on Gun Policy.
Cheryl Leeman, former Mayor of the city of Portland and city council member for more than 30 years, considered the steps that could have been taken by the state to prevent the Lewiston tragedy.
“Lingering questions remain as to how we prevent this from happening again,” Leeman said in an email to The Willistonian. “Did the system fail Card and how do we heal from such a devastating tragedy that affected so many lives?”
Despite having one of the highest gun ownership percentages by person in the country, with 46.8% of Maine adults reporting at least one firearm in the home, Maine does not have any “Extreme Risk” laws in place, laws which include by-permit concealed carry and required background checks to purchase any type of firearm, according to Maine.gov. Maine’s Governor Janet Mills has historically been against a federal assault weapon ban, yet recently shared plans to review solutions to the nation’s gun problem and how it will influence Maine’s future legislature.
Mary Anderson agrees with Mills’ change of view.
“We need protective gun legislation nationwide that protects the population from mass murderers while also not penalizing those who carry and use guns according to the law,” she said.
Aside from recovering physically from the Lewiston attack, Mainers are now struggling to redefine what safety means in a state known as “Vacationland.”
“Our little state of Maine has been knocked down by this because we never dreamed ‘it’ could happen here,” she said. “But it did.”
Despite the tragedy, the state of Maine has been able to slowly recover from the October 25 tragedy. Just two weeks after the shooting, the Lewiston High School football team won their annual rivalry game against Auburn’s Edward Little High School, sending them to the playoffs and winning them the Central Maine title. The hashtag #LewistonStrong has been coined to show support for the community, appearing on everything from street signs to coasters. In this way, Maine is slowly regaining its footing.
“We are resilient, us Mainers,” the former Mayor Cheryl Leeman said. “I know we’ll remain strong in collectively coming together to support Lewiston as we grieve and work our way through the trauma of what left all of us shaken by the devastation of such an unexpected tragic event so close to our home.”