LEWISTON — Three years after a gunman killed 18 people in Maine’s deadliest mass shooting, the community gathered for a candlelight vigil in Simard-Payne Memorial Park Sunday night.

On Oct. 25, 2023, a gunman shot and killed eight people and wounded three others at Just-In-Time Recreation in Lewiston. He then drove to Schemengees Bar & Grille, where he killed 10 more people and wounded 10 others.   

Meredith Stack, the associate director for the Maine Resiliency Center, said the community is still feeling the effects of the shooting to this day. While some lost loved ones, others survived injuries, and some people are going through both.

“There are many places that people are at in how they're moving through [recovery],” Stack said. “But I think the one consistent thing that we have seen is the importance of community, whether that is small and friends continuing to check in on each other, or it is large at a gathering like this. But just kind of knowing that we are there for each other. Just being a Mainer.”

The Maine Resiliency Center is a nonprofit formed in the wake of the shooting to offer support to those affected by it.

At the memorial on Sunday, Stack and Joanna Stokinger, lead advocate for the Maine Resiliency Center, gave speeches to a crowd holding electric candles. There were two moments of silence to mark when the shooting began at each location. Stokinger then read the names of each person killed, while candles were placed on empty chairs to represent their absences. 

Then, people walked to the footbridge over the Androscoggin River to drop flower petals and biodegradable paper on which they wrote their feelings about the situation — whether it was a note to a loved one, the community or themselves.

Stack said this process was to help release these feelings.

“I think it's a comfort for us to know that there are others who are still remembering and honoring everyone affected by this,” Stack said.

There was also a memorial cornhole tournament held at Just-In-Time Recreation on Saturday and a memorial garden planting held Sunday morning.