Lewiston, Maine community tries to find sense of normalcy on Halloween

LEWISTON, ME (CBS) — In Lewiston, Maine, families tried to find a sense of normalcy on Halloween, by attending annual events like local businessman, Peter Geiger’s trick-or-treat event where they hand out king size candy.

Halloween comes less than a week after eighteen people were killed and thirteen were injured in what was Maine’s worst mass shooting.

“It was nice to still have fun events like this after everything,” said local resident Megan Spiller as she stood with her two sons and husband.

Spiller said many of the trick-or-treats they had planned to attend had been canceled.

At the entrance to the event, a greeter asked kids and parents for a password. And everyone responded, “Lewiston Strong.”

For many community members like Tracy Hanson, Meredith Baril and their families, this event is a tradition.

“This use to be on our street so we feel compelled to come out and support him and this is such a nice event he puts on for the community, so it was important that we still follow that tradition,” said Baril.

Lisa Caron said she wanted to come for the community support and camaraderie after having lost family and friends in the attack last Wednesday.

“We don’t want it to be the focal point of our lives,” said Henry Buck, while holding his young son, Michael. “We’re able to, you know, move on and cope and deal and still maintain, like I said, a sense of normalcy, normal life.”

And before leaving for their next Halloween destination, Tracy Hanson, her daughter and friends, all said, “I love Lewiston.”

The Army reservist, Robert Card, who opened fire in a bowling alley and then at a bar in Lewiston, Maine, killing eighteen people, was found dead Friday from a self-inflicted gunshot, ending an intensive two-day search that had the state on edge.

The Lewiston shootings were the 36th mass killing in the United States this year, according to a database maintained by AP and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. The database includes every mass killing since 2006 from all weapons in which four or more people, excluding the offender, were killed within a 24-hour time frame.