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Frustration in Lewiston after more gun violence

Another shooting brings out more protesters in Lewiston as people who live in the city call for calm.

LEWISTON (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- Another shooting brings out more protesters in Lewiston as people who live in the city call for calm.

Lewiston Police say they're following leads, trying to find out who sent bullets flying into the sides of buildings Friday night on Horton and Walnut streets.

Investigators told NEWS CENTER Maine no one was hurt when the shots rang out but the incident follows a similar one on Bartlett street and a fight in Kennedy Park that turned deadly.

Lewiston Police believe most gun violence in the city is related to drug crimes, while the park fight could have connections to racial tensions.

Current and former Lewiston residents say Kennedy Park, in the center of Lewiston, should be a place where kids feel safe to play on the swings and run around.

A dozen or so folks from different backgrounds showed up to protest recent outbreaks of violence on Saturday, including Daniel Barbone, a former city resident motivated to come back to push for calm, at least around the park.

“If we can start with one safe place, if we can start with one place where all that is set aside, that would be great,” he said.

Barbone also told us that Lewiston did not have the same problems as it does in 2018 when he was growing up there.

“It was a community,” he explained. “It was the kind of place where you could go to the library and the librarian knew what kind of books you wanted.”

Others in the park, like 13 year-old Avante Valentine, say violence, no matter where or what the cause, has a big negative impact on kids in the area.

“It distracts us from our education, which is a big issue because if it's in our school system, it doesn't let us focus on school and getting our work done,” he said.

People directly affected by the violence, like Seth Soule, who’s friend, Donald Giusti, was the man killed in the park fight, says there's no place for violence or prejudice in Lewiston.

“Everybody's taught things differently,” said Soule. “Maybe some people need a refresher on how others do things.”

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