Vigil held for mass shooting victims in Lewiston, Maine
LEWISTON, Maine - After days under lockdown, Saturday was the first day out of the house for many in the Lewiston, Maine area. That lockdown was lifted after the gunman who killed 18 people Wednesday was found dead.
The chance to get outside allowed the community to come together for the first time to heal.
At the scenes of such horror and evil, there are now some signs of hope, resilience, and faith. Eighteen crosses - for 18 lives, were placed at Sparetime Recreation and Schemengees Bar and Grille. Thirteen more people were injured in the shootings.
Bre Allard is a teacher in Lewiston - and made the memorials. "I said to my kids lets make some posters for the victims and I kept the list going," Allard said. "One of the signs there has all the names of the victims and I kept adding to it once we found out more information."
One town over in Lisbon, hundreds coming together for a vigil Saturday night. They hugged, lit candles and prayed. The grief is just setting in.
"It's hard. A lot of people on Facebook are saying how hard it is," said Debbi Heffernan of Auburn.
"Our daughter is 10, she was very scared and didn't want to come out of her room. She was staying away from windows. Basically just a giant sigh of relief," said Jake Deshaine of Wells.
As the community mourns, investigators provided updates on how they found the suspect's body. He was in the back of a trailer at the Maine Recycling Corporation in Lisbon about a mile from where he ditched his car the night of the shootings.
Card used to work there. State officials say they found him with two firearms. CBS News reports he shot himself in the head.
The area was cleared by investigators twice, but they didn't search the property across the street. The state questioned on how they missed it.
"I will for the rest of my life be looking at this event and saying could we have done this different, could we do that different," said Mike Sauschuck, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Investigators took in more than 800 tips. At least three of them from the suspect's family. They were the first to call to identify him.
A dozen search warrants were completed, one leading to a note in the suspect's home left for his son containing Card's cellphone password and banking information.
"I wouldn't describe it as an explicit suicide note, but the tone and tenor was that the individual was not going to be around," Sauschuck said.
While details trickle in, a wave of grief is consuming people here, hoping they can build back their community while remembering those they've lost.
"Maybe immediately you kind of feel a sense of relief but there is still great sadness about the whole situation," said Jordene Trueh of Topsham.