Hero of the Week: Maine man saved the lives of children during the Lewiston shooting

When people are facing life and death situations, they run, face them or help others. This week's hero is a 69 year old man who, despite being shot in the legs multiple times, helped save children in the Lewiston mass shooting in Maine. Here's his story.

Maine man saved the lives of children during the Lewiston shootings 

 Thomas Giberti was shot numerous times but is credited with saving the lives of several children at the bowling alley.

Nov 2, 2023 Jim Keithley, Reporter, WMTW, News Channel 8 

LEWISTON, Maine — Thomas Giberti, 69, of Auburn was shot seven times, with bullets hitting both his legs, when a gunman opened fire at Lewiston bowling alley last week. Three days after the shooting, Giberti was discharged from the hospital and was up and walking with a walker, his family said.

"The four shots actually to his left leg, the bullets remain inside of his leg because they're kind of impeded in the muscle area and stuff like that and it would do more damage to dig them out," said Will Bourgault, Giberti's nephew.

Bourgault said everyone who has heard his uncle's story, himself included, are amazed by his quick thinking and swift actions that likely saved the lives of eight or nine children.

Giberti, who used to be a manager at the bowling alley, was at the Just-In-Time Recreation Center that night. He had gone out back to grab a screwdriver to fix a piece of loose equipment when the gunman entered.

"As he was coming back out the door to go back into the bowling alley, he saw flashes of light he realized hearing the gunshots that somebody was shooting in there and people were running in all kinds of different directions and stuff," said Bourgault, relaying the story his uncle told.

"He looked over to where the kids were at – six lanes basically of youth bowlers there and they were just all kind of hunkered down trying to hide from the gunman. He was able to get their attention and called to them and the kids ran across the lanes and got to where he was at and as he got them out the back doors so they could get out into the back parking lot in the back, he got shot in the back of his left leg and that's what dropped him in the doorway," Bourgault said.

Giberti was rushed to the hospital where he underwent surgery and is now dealing with both physical and emotional pain, said his family. Two of his close friends, Bob and Lucy Violette, were both killed that night.

Bourgault is calling his uncle a hero.

"I said Tom – you're a hero to us – what you did was heroic. He said – no I just reacted. I said Tom, that's what heroes do; they just react. You know you could have run out the back door. You could have saved yourself without getting shot. You could have just taken off. You could have frozen back there, but you didn't; you went for it. You got the attention of those kids. Those kids were able to get out safely because of what you did," Bourgault said. 

 Girberti was absolutely against a GoFundMe, but Bourgault told him that people start GoFundMe pages for cats and if anybody deserves the help, it was him.