LEWISTON, Maine —
Since the start of 2024, Lewiston has had more than 20 shootings or reports of gunshots being fired, according to the Lewiston Police Department. The agency also said the majority of those shootings have involved youth or young adults.
The latest incident happened this past Friday, when gunfire broke out at Mike McGraw Park, turning a planned community event into a panic situation. The only remaining evidence of what was meant to be a celebration were the popped balloons lying left behind on concrete.
Before the incident, everything had been going well and as planned at the Maine Immigration Refugee Services' annual Family Fun Day event.
"It was fun," Executive Director Rilwan Osman said. "This year we had bounce castles for playing."
Osman described the event as an end-of-summer bash where kids can enjoy summer activities and also prepare for the school year by grabbing free supplies.
"We were only a few minutes away from giving out the backpacks," Osman said as he stared at dozens of boxes filled with everything from backpacks to pencil pouches.
Hundreds of parents and children were at the event when gunshots rang out from a distance on two separate occurrences. Osman said it was terrifying for all, immediately causing the event to be cut short, but he said a surplus of unclaimed school supplies isn't his only problem.
"It definitely was frightening with the recent incidents happening," Osman said.
He said incidents, plural, because this wasn't the first. And he's not the only person in the community concerned about a pattern they say they're seeing.
"The big piece here is youth and young adult violent crime seems to be increasing," Councilor Joshua Nagine, who represents Ward 1 in Lewiston, said.
According to the Lewiston police, Nagine is right. He believes there are two recent developments behind this dangerous shift.
"It's due to the fact youth and young adults in our community both have access to firearms and the willingness to use them," Nagine asserted.
He said he believes a change would require a cultural shift and a legal shift, namely a lowered cultural acceptance of guns and harsher punishments for crimes involving firearms.
"The first part is to acknowledge youth gun violence is a problem in our community, and the second part is to say, 'We won't stand for it,'" he said. "Everybody is a part of a solution in that process."
Nagine said the solution should start with better communication among city councilors, schools, and police, but he said it should also involve the community at large. That would include organizations like MEIRS, where Osman said they are happy to be part of the solution.
"We are trying to have more programming, more structured services for the youth and also for parents, too, so they can support their children at home," Osman said.
Councilors scheduled to hold a special meeting next Tuesday with the Lewiston Police Department to discuss a better approach to this uptick in youth violence.