Under southern Maine's shelter-in-place order, mourners gather in online vigils

With a shelter-in-place order still in effect for Androscoggin and parts of Sagadahoc counties in Maine, hundreds of Mainers and people from neighboring states gathered on Zoom Thursday evening for faith-based vigils to mourn those killed in the Lewiston shootings, and take some comfort in virtual togetherness.

More than 250 participants logged on for a Christian prayer session organized by various church leaders from across Maine.

Rev. Jane Field, with the Maine Council of Churches, offered a prayer calling on God to be with those struggling with "the plague of gun violence."

And she called attention to the particular challenges of mourning such a terrible loss while under a shelter in place order.

"Be especially with those in lockdown tonight, who are afraid, who may be alone. Give them a sense of your presence, and plant in them the seed of hope," she said.

Minutes later, nearly 100 participants logged onto a Muslim community vigil and meeting with participants from Lewiston, Bangor, South Portland and other parts of the state.

Lewiston state Rep. Mana Abdi told community members to look out for one other in the days ahead. Speaking as people continued to pop into the Zoom session, she also urged participants to be careful when sharing information.

"And please don't fall into the hysteria of everything. Make sure you're sharing accurate information. Double check the resources that you are sharing to make sure that we're not giving any false hope to anybody," she said.

A representative from the Orono-based Islamic Center of Maine offered a prayer for first responders, and said the Bangor-area community stands in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Lewiston-Auburn.

This story is a production of the New England News Collaborative. It was originally published by Maine Public.