Maine Shooting: Retired Police Officer Among Heroes During Rampage

Oct. 27, 2023
A retired police officer, a youth bowling coach and a bar manager were some of the people who tried to save lives and stop the gunman as he went on a rampage in Lewiston.

A retired police officer was among those who helped save lives while a gunman went on a rampage in Maine, killing 18 and wounding 13 others.

"My dad's been a police officer for 40 years, and he literally just went into action in that moment and just kind of corralled us all and made sure we were all safe and that the scene—he was waiting for the cops to walk through the front door and he put protection in front of us and tables and like a big bench that the kids were hiding behind," Riley Dumont told ABC News.

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Dumont's father, a retired police officer, helped people in the bowling alley where Robert R. Card II allegedly opened fire. He helped his wife, his daughter and granddaughter, as well as other people in the bowling alley, keep safe from the gunfire.

"I was laying on top of my daughter," she said. "My mother was laying on top of me, It felt like it lasted a lifetime."

"My mom and I were just trying to keep everybody quiet and consoling each other," Dumont added. "The sounds that I heard were only closest to me and then the gunshots were all I remember hearing."

Tammy Asselin also was at the bowling alley with her daughter to attend a youth bowling league. Asselin's cousin, Tricia Asselin, was killed in the shooting, but she praised parents and staffers for helping the children during the shooting.

"Thank God to the quick thinking of some parents who didn't even turn to look, they just grabbed the kids and said, 'Run,'" said Asselin. "And an employee who worked there helped them hide behind the bowling alley. Behind everything, apparently, there's an office space there and they barricaded themselves in there."

Michael Deslauriers II tried to rush the gunman while at the bowling alley. He was shot and killed, along with Bob Violette, a youth bowling coach who was died trying to keep children alive.

At least one other person confronted the gunman during his rampage. Jospeh Walker was the manager at the bar, which was the location of the second shooting. He had a knife and tried to stop the gunman, but he was killed when he was shot twice in the stomach.

"You take him down, whatever you got to do, you save the others and in my son's case he lost his life trying to do it," said Leroy Walker, Joseph's father. "I don't know if he saved any, I just know he tried and I know in my heart that's exactly what he would do."

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