"Major tragedy beyond words": Roadside tribute for shooting victims grows in Lewiston, Maine
LEWISTON, Maine - The Lewiston, Maine community is beginning the long healing process after last week's mass shooting.
"It's a major tragedy beyond words," said Michelle Randazzo, laying down a rose for every victim in the Lewiston, Maine mass shooting. One of the roses was red, for her brother-in-law Bryan MacFarlane. He was proud to be one of only a few deaf truckers in the country. He was shot and killed in Schemengees bar during a fundraiser for the deaf community.
"You know, in addition to trying to process what happened to an immediate family member, I'm trying to process what happened to other community members and friends," said Randazzo.
She visited a roadside tribute Monday, five days after the shooting, three days after searchers found the body of suspected gunman Robert Card, who police say shot himself to death. Dozens of carved pumpkins, flowers, messages, and crosses piled up outside Just-in-Time Recreation, one of the two shooting scenes where 18 people were killed and 13 injured.
"Knowing my husband was here, and not knowing where he was for a while, and now coming back and seeing names on the pumpkins of his friends," said Diane Martin, whose husband was at the bowling alley when it happened. He survived. "He was feet away...I'm very thankful," she said.
The community is preparing to take a big step toward healing Tuesday when students return to Lewiston schools. "It's a little bit worrying I'd say," said Chip Keenan, who brought his two children to the memorial. "My daughter's in middle school. We've already had...two active shooter alerts in that school system."
Dion Green knows what survivors are going through. He traveled to Lewiston from Ohio, where his father Derrick Fudge was killed in another mass shooting in 2019. "I don't want anybody else to feel this pain, so that's why other survivors and myself are out here trying to create change," he said.
