Lewiston, Maine’s second-largest city, was not the type of place where bad things happened. Home to four colleges, it was a calm, community-driven oasis, not a place where people feared for their safety. However, on Wednesday, October 25th, 2023, that serenity was shattered when Lewiston became the site of this year’s deadliest mass shooting in the United States.
At 6:56 PM, the police received a frantic call about an active male shooter at the Just-In-Time Bowling alley. Within minutes, scores of police officers arrived at the site, but the shooter had already fled the scene. Despite the shooter’s retreat, the nightmare was far from over. As the first State Troopers pulled into Just-In-Time, calls began to arrive about a shooting at Schemengees Bar and Grille, just four miles away from the first site.
Yet again, when police arrived at the scene, the shooter was gone. Town officials began to issue warnings about an “Active Shooter Situation,” urging the public to remain sheltered in place. Along with the warnings, officials began to circulate images of the shooter and his white SUV. Within an hour the shooter was identified as Robert Card, a forty-year-old military reservist, with a history of mental health issues. Soon, his SUV was found at the Paper Mills Trail and Miller Park Boat Launch, ten miles from downtown Lewiston, but there was no sign of Card. At 10:52 PM Card was officially identified as a person of interest, and the public was warned that he was armed and dangerous.
By the next morning, Card had still not been located. Police expanded their search perimeter to Bowdoin Maine, 20 miles from Lewiston. At the conclusion of the day, they still had no viable leads. The manhunt continued through Friday evening until Card’s body was discovered near the Androscoggin River in Lisbon Falls. His cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The shootings’ death toll of 18 made this the deadliest mass killing event in state history. The victims ranged in age from 14 to 76. The youngest victim, Aaron Young, was bowling with his father, another fatal victim of the shootings. The oldest victims, Bob Violette (76) and his wife Lucielle Violette (73), died while protecting children from the rampage. Both were described as pillars of the community and will be missed.
The Fieldston community shared the sense of shock and sadness felt across America. One teacher who asked to remain anonymous stated, “America is the only country where things like this happen! Nowhere else has lockdown drills in schools, it’s awful that it’s gotten this bad. I’ve even considered homeschooling my daughter because it just isn’t safe.”
Some members of the extended Fieldston community were particularly affected by news of the shooting because of their personal connections to Lewiston. Diane Ellis, Aunt of Cristina Ellis (Form IV), lived in Lewiston for four years while attending Bates College. She stated, “When I went to college, the city was made up of hard-working people who did not have a lot of money. I mostly knew the people from town who worked at the college. The people I knew were very friendly and caring with the students.” She went on to say, “My emotions after the shooting are mostly sadness. There have been far too many of these situations where we lose good innocent people. It seems to me that we just express shock and wait for the next one to occur.”
Her younger brother, Edward Ellis, father of Cristina Ellis (Form IV), who also attended Bates, was rocked by the news of the shooting. “Lewiston was a quiet, tight-knit place, I can’t believe that this happened there.” He was shocked by how much of an impact this had on him and found himself checking the news feverishly for updates.“It was surreal to see streets that I traveled regularly become the center of a mass manhunt. I’d long forgotten their names, but seeing them in the media brought back memories of yesteryear. It’s heartbreaking how in today’s world, a tragic event like this can happen anywhere.”
Now, Lewiston has committed itself to the difficult task of healing and reconciliation. State-funded resources and support groups are readily available throughout Lewiston for those who need it. Fieldston’s entire community wishes the Lewiston community well as it navigates the aftermath of the shooting and works to build a better tomorrow.
