Heroes of the Week: 3 People Facing Maine Gunman

When you hear about an insane man with an assault rifle who set out to murder innocent people, it takes a lot of courage to try and stop him, run to warn others and the police and get others to safety. In today's blog, you'll read about three of those heroes from Lewiston, Maine. Sadly, two of them lost their lives to the madman. Today's blog is in their honor and was compiled from stories from Maine's WGME-TV.

(Caption: Joseph Walker was the manager at Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston. (Leroy Walker)) Source 1: WGME, Channel 13 article

1) One hero is an Auburn city councilor's son, who was a manager at Schemengees Bar & Grille and tried to stop the gunman. Joseph Walker was the manager at Schemengees Bar & ; Grille in Lewiston. He lost his life, tragically. Police informed the family that Joseph Walker spent his last moments as a hero.

“Picked up a butcher knife and went after the gunman to try and stop him from killing other people,” Leroy Walker said. “And that’s when he shot my son to death. He tried to save some more lives, and he ended up losing his life.”

(Photo: Tricia Asselin, one of the 18 killed in the Lewiston mass shooting.) 

2) When the killer entered the bowling alley across town and the shooting started, Tricia Asselin, was there just bowling at the time. She was a part-time employee of the bowling alley and tried to get help. Her brother says she ran to the counter and called 911 when she was shot and killed. “She was the rock of the family,” her brother said.

(Photo: Samantha and Justin Juray. Justin got people out of the bowling alley quickly through emergency exits when the shooting erupted). 

3) One hero who survived got people out of the bowling alley to safety. First reports of the shooting at Just-in-Time Recreation came in around 6:56 p.m. on Wednesday. Justin and Samantha Juray bought the bowling alley two years ago. Justin was bowling Wednesday night when the gunman opened fire on his staff and customers, and he helped get people out of harm’s way through an emergency exit."I was bowling. And I turned around. I heard a loud pop. I turned around and saw just an assault rifle. And it was aimed at our counter. Went and found some emergency exits. The place was busy. I helped get people out of the building,” Justin said.