Lewiston shooting survivor Gavin Robitaille is seen with his doctor and family at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Courtesy Massachusetts General Hospital
Editor’s note: Jan Begert wrote this account of the Lewiston shootings on behalf of her family members who witnessed the events from inside Schemengees Bar & Grille and Just-in-Time Recreation. It’s a compelling and chilling story, and one the family didn’t want to talk publicly about — except through Begert.
For most of us, the night of the shooting on Oct. 25 in Lewiston is beginning to fade. Not so for my cousin, Larry, who might have lost his entire family that night.
“It’s like watching a movie over and over again.”
Lewiston truly is a small town. Made even smaller for me by my large French family, the Robitailles. I was sitting in my living room glued to live news coverage of the hunt for the shooter, Robert Card, the night of Oct. 25 when I received a text that my cousin had been shot. I didn’t learn until the next day that it was my cousin Larry’s grandson who had been shot. And it wasn’t until much later on that I discovered the true horror of what happened that night for Larry’s entire family.
Larry, along with his son, Jeff, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren had each been present at scenes of the shootings that Wednesday. Larry and Jeff had been at Schemengees Bar & Grille and his daughter-in-law and two grandchildren had been at Just-in-Time Recreation.
This cut very close. Larry is my first cousin. We grew up across the street from one another, on River Road, about an eighth of a mile away from Schemengees. So, the shooting took on a more personal impact for me as I began to learn the details of that night.
For most of us, the memories of those few days are beginning to fade, receding to the busyness of the holidays. For Larry, the horrors of that night are very much alive, as he relives it over and over in his head “like a movie,” he says. Nothing has faded for him, as I could hear evident in his voice.
He kindly agreed to talk with me one evening last week after he returned from deer hunting. But, he stressed, only because I’m family. He will speak with no one else about his experiences, he says. It’s not just because he was directly involved, but also because it involves his entire family and he wants to preserve some measure of privacy for them. The enormity of the potential loss adds additional complexion to an already terrifying night. It’s a lot to process.
Larry and his son, Jeff, were at Schemengees that night for a cornhole tournament. He and Jeff have played in a cornhole league at Schemengees for the last two years. Larry hadn’t played for the previous two weeks, due to a badly sprained ankle. On that Wednesday, he decided to get back to the game and play in the tournament. His domestic partner, Lynn, decided to stay home that night.
Larry played the first two games with Jeff and a third with Joe Walker, the manager. Larry and Jeff then decided to take a break and sat in a private area, situated at the end of a pool table against the wall. They chose to sit there because they had a better view of the cornhole tables. They had just gotten seated when Jeff received a phone call. “Dad, I gotta go,” was all Jeff said. There was no time for explanation. Jeff got up and left abruptly.
It was about 6:55 pm.
Not one to panic, Larry asked Joe if he could find a replacement player for Jeff. Joe then communicated with several of the deaf players in attendance that night and yelled to Larry that he’d found a partner for him.
It was right about that time that Larry heard three rapid shots, about a second apart. Larry turned and looked to the entrance, thinking it was somebody pulling a Halloween prank. And suddenly realized it was “the real thing.”
After the first three shots, the shooter fired at the bartenders, then took a right-hand turn and began firing at the guys who were playing pool. Larry fell to one knee behind a pool table, quickly popping his head up and down to see what direction the shooter was headed. The shooter was working his way slowly down the aisle toward him. At one point, he stopped on the opposite side of the very pool table Larry was hiding behind.
Suddenly, the lights went out. The room went dark, illuminated only by the laser attached to the shooter’s assault rifle. He began pointing the laser at people and firing, one or two seconds apart. “He wasn’t wasting any shots,” said Larry. There was a deliberateness to the firing as Larry described it, as he “hit his targets.”
In the darkness, in the midst of the ongoing shooting, Larry’s phone rang. It was Jeff telling him that his grandson had been shot. Driving to the bowling alley, Jeff had received a call from his wife. Their son, Gavin, had been shot inside the bowling alley. Still driving, Jeff called Larry and could hear the gunshots through the phone. Larry whispered “I can’t talk! The guy’s in here shooting!” and hung up.
A few moments later, Jeff called Larry again. Jeff was being pulled two ways. He had just learned that his son had been shot and was trying to reach his father who, he discovers, is in the midst of another active shooting. Jeff can again hear the gunshots over the phone when Larry answers the phone. But Larry is left with no choice but to hang up on him. He fears the shooter will hear or see him.
Larry credits his older flip phone, in part, for saving him that night. A newer phone would have been brighter and louder, pinpointing his location for the shooter. When Jeff’s calls came in, Larry was able to open the phone up just enough to accept Jeff’s calls.
Hours later, Larry learned that it had been a father and son who had disabled the lights at Schemengees that night. They slipped into the small utility room and, moments after the shooting began, cut the lights. Larry believes the father-and-son pair saved a lot of lives that night.
With the active shooting over, Larry was held on lockdown in the parking lot of Schemengees before being transported to the Lewiston Armory for questioning. Ultimately, he ended the night at the Auburn Middle School reunification center where his partner, Lynn, picked him up.
They arrived home at 1 a.m.
Jeff’s night would not end for a long time. He was unable to enter the bowling alley or return to Schemengees. Not wanting to speak for Jeff, Larry says he can only imagine the mental torture and anguish Jeff must have experienced that night, not being able to get to his wife and kids or to his father.
Three weeks on, Larry continues to relive that night. “It’s like watching a movie over and over again. The more I talk about it, the worse it gets. It will fade away in time. You’re the only one I’ve talked to and it’s because you’re a relative. I won’t be talking to anyone else about this.”
Larry’s 16-year-old grandson, Gavin, was the only family member shot that night at the bowling alley. He was shot in the arm and transported to Mass General for Children where he has undergone multiple surgeries. He was discharged recently but will have to return for additional surgeries at the end of the month.
His GoFundMe account, “Gavin Robitaille, Surgical Expenses, Lewiston ME”, has been receiving ongoing donations, but can always use more, as expenses for this family continue to mount. His determination and spirit are readily evident in the pictures his family has posted on the GoFundMe site, of a wide-smiling, positive young man ready to meet the world.
As for Larry and his family, they have a long way to go to process and mend from this senseless tragedy. But they have many, many things to be grateful for, not the least of which is Gavin. Alive and healthy. It seems appropriate that the first holiday they celebrated after this trauma was a Thanksgiving.
Jan Begert lives in Bowdoinham.
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