Destiny Johnson was with friends at Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston, Maine, on Oct. 25 when, just after the appetizers were served, gunshots rang out. Johnson, 37, dived to the floor, crawling toward an exit as screams and bullets filled the room. "Every time [the gunman] shot, he kind of took a second to do something with his gun," she says, "so I had a second to crawl."
Johnson made it into the kitchen and out the back door to safety-but many others didn't. During back-to-back attacks at the restaurant and Lewiston's Just-inTime Recreation bowling alley, 18 people were murdered-including a 14-year-old boy and four men playing in a deaf cornhole tournament and more than a dozen others were wounded in the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history.
After a tense two-day manhunt to find the shooter ended (see box on following page), the traumatized community came out of hiding. "The people of Lewiston are enduring immeasurable pain," Maine governor Janet Mills said. "We will all help you carry this grief." In their own words, survivors, witnesses and victims' loved ones share their stories.
Bobbi Nichols, 57
SISTER OF VICTIM TRICIA ASSELIN, 53
This story is from the November 13, 2023 edition of People US.
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This story is from the November 13, 2023 edition of People US.
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