STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We are covering the Middle East War and also covering violence in the United States. In Lewiston, Maine, hundreds of people gathered for a vigil last night. They remembered 18 people killed last week in the deadliest mass shooting in the United States this year so far. Maine Public's Patty Wight reports.
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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing) Like me...
PATTY WIGHT, BYLINE: It was standing room only in the 1,500-seat Basilica church, where people packed into pews, hugged and cried. At least a thousand more gathered outside by candlelight to honor the family, friends and coworkers who were killed at a bowling alley and a bar last Wednesday. In between songs and music, faith leaders urged the community to support each other as they seek healing. Reverend Allen Austin is from Pathway Vineyard church in Lewiston.
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ALLEN AUSTIN: Please, Lewiston, do not lose hope.
WIGHT: He told them not to let the shootings divide them and offered two pieces of advice.
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AUSTIN: That would be to be a people who listen well and a people who love well.
WIGHT: The vigil was one of the first opportunities to come together after a two-day lockdown while police searched for the suspect. His body was found Friday night. He died after an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. As the community tries to come to terms with the loss of 18 people, who ranged in age from 14 to 76, the grief extends beyond those who directly lost a loved one and beyond Lewiston's borders. Kimberly Phinney lives in the nearby city of Augusta, but she says she grew up here.
KIMBERLY PHINNEY: I haven't been able to cry. I've been so mad. I'm in Augusta. Yes, I lived there for a long time, but it's not my home like here. This is where my heritage is. This is where I grew up, and someone attacked it.
WIGHT: Phinney says she wants to see stricter gun laws so other communities don't have to endure another mass shooting. Here in Lewiston, Phinney says it will take time, but they'll persevere.
For NPR News, I'm Patty Wight in Lewiston, Maine. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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