LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Church bells rang Sunday as Maine residents gathered in somber and sometimes joyful services to pray and support each other after a traumatic week in which a fellow Maine man was shot and killed to 18 people in the worst mass shooting in state history.
The Rev. Daniel Greenleaf began services at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston with a moment of silence. Afterwards, he told the congregation it was good to finally be able to pray together after days of imposed lockdown while police searched for gunman Robert Card, 40.
Card’s body was found Friday in a trailer at a recycling center in Lisbon Falls. Card died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, but it was unclear when, authorities said. Card is also suspected of wounding 13 people during the Wednesday night shooting in Lewiston.
Several women wore black veils in the cavernous sanctuary, where a church official said they are raising funds to help shooting victims and others injured by “the horrible events that occurred in our small town.”
18 people were shot dead when Robert Card opened fire at a Maine bowling alley.AP
“We can see the rays of light in the darkness,” Greenleaf said during his sermon. He told the faithful that in times like this they have “practiced” their faith.
“We can’t fix this, but human beings are not machines that can be fixed,” Greenleaf said.
At Lisbon Falls Baptist Church, the mood was upbeat as church members arrived and greeted each other. But the atmosphere turned somber when the Rev. Brian Ganong made reference to the tragedy. He prayed for victims who fought for their lives, those who lost family and friends, first responders and medical workers, and others, including the Card family, who he said had ties to some members of the church.
Robert Card’s body was later found with an apparent self-inflicted wound.AP
“Happened. We may never know the reason,” he said, encouraging the congregation to seek solace in a higher being.
After the service, Ganong said “it took one person” to destroy the community’s “sense of peace and security.”
“They feel violated, right? They feel invaded. This has violated their security,” he stated. ”But I understand that we live in an evil world. And it was probably a matter of time before he infringed on us.”
The Rev. Daniel Greenleaf led a moment of silence at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston, Maine.AP In addition to prayer, the community is also raising funds for the families of the victims.AP
Standing outside the basilica after attending early Mass, Marcel Roy said the last few days have been painful but he is hopeful the community can continue the long healing process.
“This feels good,” Roy said as the church bells rang.
The 70-year-old Lewiston resident said he knew four of the shooting victims and is praying for them and the shooter.
Robert Card’s family members shared that he had begun hearing voices before the shooting.
“I can’t hate that guy,” he said of the gunman. “He was not raised as a murderer.”
Authorities recovered a multitude of weapons during the search for Card and believe he had purchased them legally, 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 Investigation. Alcohol. Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He declined to provide specific details about the weapons, including their make and model, and did not say exactly how many were found.
Investigators are still searching for a motive for the massacre, but have increasingly focused on Card’s mental health history. State Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck said Card had been hearing voices and was paranoid.
Card believed that “people were talking about him and there may even have been some voices at play,” Sauschuck said.
Card’s relatives told federal investigators that he had recently talked about hearing voices and focused more on the bowling alley and the bar, according to law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss details. Of the investigation.
On Saturday, street life began to return to Lewiston, in the city of 37,000. Police missed two clear opportunities to end the lockdown early, after failing to find Card’s body in searches at the recycling center on Thursday night and early Friday.
For many residents it was a day to reflect, cry and, for some, take the first tentative steps toward normality. Some went deer hunting on the opening day of firearms season, and one family handed out buckets of flowers downtown. Others gathered at an improvised memorial to the victims on the same street as the bar attacked by Card.
Community members came together to create a memorial to honor the victims.AP
William Brackett, whose namesake son was among those killed, visited the memorial Saturday and said he could feel the pent-up tension leave his body when he learned that Card was dead.
“I assure you, if I had a bottle of champagne, I would have opened it and celebrated,” he said.
Billy Brackett was shot several times and died on the way to the hospital, his father said. He said his son didn’t let his deafness stop him from doing anything in life, including playing multiple sports.
“He was just a kind person. He was big and sturdy, and I guess maybe that’s why all the little kids loved him. They flocked to a larger person,” Brackett said. “Maybe they thought, ‘He will be our protector.’”
Following the news of Robert Card’s death, the small Maine community hopes to take the first steps toward normality.AP
The deadliest shootings in Maine history shocked a state of 1.3 million people that has relatively little violent crime and had only 29 murders in all of 2022.
Three patients remained in critical condition at Central Maine Medical Center and a fourth was stable, hospital officials said. Another patient was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital and the rest were discharged.
The stay-at-home order in place during the massive search was lifted Friday afternoon, hours before authorities announced they had found Card’s body at Maine Recycling Corp.
The Lewiston shooting was the 36th mass murder in the United States this year, according to a database maintained by the AP and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. The database includes all mass murders since 2006 with all weapons in which four or more people, excluding the offender, were killed in a 24-hour period.
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