"Surreal feeling": Families mourn loved ones killed in Lewiston shooting
LEWISTON, Maine - Since Arthur Barnard left his oldest son Arthur Strout playing pool at Schemengees Bar and Grille Wednesday night, he's been in anguish.
"The crazy part is just being with him just before it happened, minutes, I mean 10 minutes before it happened," said Arthur Barnard.
For 17 hours, the family didn't know if Strout, a father of five, made it out alive after a gunman opened fire during a rampage. First, they were told Strout was at the hospital, but he wasn't. On Thursday, the worst was confirmed.
"I hadn't driven very far before I got a phone call saying that there was a shooting there and I knew where he was in the place, 20 feet from the door," Arthur Barnard said.
Eighteen people were killed and 13 were wounded in shootings at Schemengees and Sparetime Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston.
Strout was one of eight people killed at the restaurant, along with the beloved manager Joseph Walker, the son of Auburn City Councilor Leroy Walker. Walker said his 56-year-old son died trying to stop the alleged gunman, Robert Card, who is still at large.
"Picked up a butcher knife and went after the gunman to try to stop him from killing other people and that's when he shot my son to death trying to safe some more lives," Leroy Walker said.
Leroy was sent to the hospital only to learn his son wasn't transported there.
"After four hours they said your son is not here, there is no Joseph Walker on the list, so that pretty much told me at that point my son was back at Schemengees dead," Leroy said.
For the family of 23-year-old Justin Karcher, the hours have also been agonizing. He was shot four times while playing pool at Schemengees. Now he's at Central Maine Medical Center on life support in the ICU.
Families are left processing what they've lost in a horrific tragedy. "It's just a surreal feeling like it's hard," Strout's brother Tyler Barnard said.
