Victims of Lewiston, Maine mass shooting identified, survivors speak out after 18 dead
Family members have identified several mass shooting victims after a suspect is believed to have carried out a deadly rampage at two different locations, leaving 18 dead.
According to Maine State Police, seven people died Wednesday night at the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley, formerly known as Sparetime Recreation. Six victims were male and one was female. Eight more people, all male, died at Schemengees Bar and Grille. Three victims who were transported to hospitals ultimately succumbed to their injuries.
The victims include a volunteer youth bowling coach known for encouraging children and a bar manager, who died "a hero,” his father said, as he tried to confront the shooter.
The father of Michael Deslauriers told CBS News that his son was among those killed at the bowling alley.
The father said his son and a friend both brought their wives and several children to safety before charging at the shooter in an attempt to stop his deadly rampage. They were killed in the process.
A map shows the approximate location where a suspect is believed to have killed 18 victims and leaving more than a dozen others with various injuries in Lewiston, Maine. Fox News Digital
Joe Walker, the bar manager at Schemengees Bar and Grille, was shot twice in the stomach as he went after the shooter with a butcher knife, according to his father, Auburn City Councilor Leroy Walker.
“He died as a hero,” he said of his son.
“And I don’t know, telling you the truth, what kind of night this is going to be from now until tomorrow when I wake up to the true facts that my son is dead — and I know he’s dead,” he told NBC News on Thursday. “I know it as well as I know I’m standing here telling you because he’s not here and he’s not at any other hospital and he’s not running the streets or he would have called us, because he manages Schemengees, so I know he was there.”
Another deceased victim, retiree Bob Violette, 76, devoted himself to his volunteer job coaching the youth bowling league, according to Patrick Poulin, whose teenage son has been a member for three years. The youth league was practicing Wednesday night.
“He’s taught so many people over the years how to bowl, and he wasn’t getting paid,” Poulin said. “We’ve really been focused on trying to keep the sport alive, and Bob was really an integral part of that.”
Poulin described him as unfailingly approachable and caring.
“Sometimes kids are having a hard time for whatever reason, discouraged or something,” he said. “He was great at picking them up and getting them to move along from that issue and get things going in the right direction.”
Violette’s daughter confirmed his death to WBZ-TV.
Surviving witnesses of the mass shooting described the horrific moments and shared how they escape the terror.
One witness at the bowling alley, who identified himself only as Brandon, said he heard the gunfire — about 10 shots — which he initially mistook for balloons popping.
"I had my back turned to the door. And as soon as I turned and saw it was not a balloon — he was holding a weapon. I just booked it," he told The Associated Press.
Brandon ran down the alley and slid into the pin area. He then hid in the machinery.
He was among a busload of survivors who were driven to a middle school in the neighboring city of Auburn to be reunited with family and friends.
"I was putting on my bowling shoes when it started. I’ve been barefoot for five hours," he recounted.
Another witness, who was not identified, said he knew someone who was among the deceased.
It's usually a pretty quiet town.
"The scene was just nuts, it was nuts," the witness said. "I can't really describe it because I don't have the words."
He continued, "I know a lot of people that bowl there and, actually, a good friend of mine's sister was killed there last night. I'm just numb, really."
"It's usually a pretty quiet town," he also said.
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