LEWISTON, Maine —
“OK, I love you.”
Those were Arthur Strout’s final words to his father before a mass shooting in Lewiston claimed the life of Strout.
His family says Strout was playing pool with his father at Schemengees Bar and Grille and wanted to stay a little longer. His father, Arthur Bernard left right before the shooting.
Just 10 minutes after leaving, Bernard got the life-changing phone call.
Strout, who was just 42 years old at the time of the shooting, had a blended family with his wife, Kristy, and their five children.
“He’s helped me raise my children since they were very, very little,” Kristy Strout told CBS. “His daughter’s only 13 and without a dad because of all of this. Because of one man’s choices, my daughter has to grow up without a father.”
His loving family told the AP, that Strout loved his family and died doing what he loved: playing pool.
“He was murdered doing something he loved," Bonnie Caron, the mother of his 23-year-old son, said. “He was just all about having fun."
Click here to donate to his GoFundMe. His family says the money raised will cover funeral costs, basic living expenses such as housing, food, and some expensive medications for children not covered by insurance as well as preparation to adjust to a single-income home.