Maine's Just-In-Time bowling alley with a VERY dark past reopens after major makeover with pins baring a hint of the bloodshed which shocked a nation

A half-a-year after 18 people were shot and killed in Lewiston, Maine, by a deranged gunman, one of the shooting sites reopened over the weekend to a rave reception.

Hundreds of happy residents were filmed outside Just-In-Time bowling alley Friday for the grand opening, six months after 40-year-old former military instructor Robert Card walked through its double glass doors armed.

Eight of Card's eventual 18 victims were then killed, but the business, closed since October 25, today lives on.

At a ceremony Friday, the governor and city leaders hit the sentiment home, with a ceremony that honored the lives lost as well as the resiliency of the small, tight-knit community.

Reminders from that day were proudly put on display, including 18 bowling pins that bore the names of the victims, as well as pictures and signs that read, 'Lewiston Strong.' Bowling alley owners Justin and Samantha Juray were also in attendance.

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'It's amazing. It shows we are better than this,' Justin, 43, told attendees of the somewhat painful decision to reopen.

'I just want to thank everyone for coming here and encouraging us to open back up,' wife Samantha, 32, added. 

'If we didn't have all of you, we definitely wouldn't have been able to open back up.'

'You're the reason,' Justin asserted. 'This is why we decided to reopen.' 

Justin had been at the alley that day six months ago, halfway through his second frame with his dad when the shots rang out.  Both escaped unscathed, but his father, Tom Juray, told the Boston Globe how he still has other scars from the ordeal.

But on Friday, like so many others, the 71-year-old put on his bowling shoes for the first time since to mark a return to normalcy.

'I got a game to finish,' he told the paper, reportedly walking up to the once again-bustling business with outstretched arms.

As others had to go elsewhere for a game, such as Augusta or Portland, Tom said the trauma of the night had kept him out of a bowling alley. 

That is, until Friday, when he happily sat at a high-top table with wife, Julie. On a mantle overhead, the names of all 18 people killed - including the eight at the business - were memorialized with a display of 18 bowling pins, one with each name.

When asked how the community has been responding to the called-off closure, his Justin told WMUR that people - from longtime patrons to those who had never bowled a game before - have been 'amazing.'

'[The reception has] been great,' he told the local outlet. 'We have felt the support and the love for sure.'

In a brief statement from the floor, his wife thanked the community for this support. 

'I just want to thank everybody for coming here and supporting us and for supporting us through the last six months and encouraging us to reopen back up,' she said, after delivering painstaking updates to patrons about repairs on social media.

'If we didn’t have all of you, then we definitely wouldn’t be able to open our doors back up.' 

The grand opening was also attended by the state's governor Janet Mills, who was seen cutting the ribbon for reentry at the start of the grand opening celebration. 

She praised the couple for their decision to reopen, as businesses exposed to similar circumstances - including the pool hall in Lewiston that Card also stormed - often have not. 

'Our hearts are still healing, the road to healing is long,' Mills told the crowd following a raucous ribbon cutting ceremony. 'But today, Justin and Samantha are helping us all take a big step forward by reopening Just-in-Time.'

The owner of Schemenegees Bar & Grill, the business where Card killed 10 more people shortly after opening fire at the bowling alley, has told other local outlets that she does plan to reopen at some point, but at a new location.  

Her decision, like others, shows how people have taken varied approaches business owners have taken to recover after mass shootings.

Barbara Poma, the former owner of the Pulse nightclub in Florida where 49 people were killed in 2016, opted to sell the site to the City of Orlando to create a memorial.

'You are suddenly thrown into a state of shock, and emotions dictate your thoughts,” Poma told the AP in an email Friday as Just-in-Time reopened.

'Eventually you are forced to make a critical business decision based on how it will impact others emotionally and publicly. There just is no easy or right answer.'

In Aurora, Colorado, a movie theater where 12 people were killed in 2012 later reopened under a new name. Buffalo’s Tops Friendly Market reopened in 2022, two months after 10 black people were killed.

In Newtown, Connecticut, Sandy Hook Elementary School was razed, and there also are plans to bulldoze Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

But, at the bowling alley, longtime manager Tom Giberti said people are now 'excited to get us back.'

'The community has been phenomenal,' Giberti said. 'They’ve been right here for us, they’ve been supporting us.'

Among those killed were two bowling alley staff members. Most of the staff who survived are returning to work at the venue. 

Justin on Friday told those arriving for the first day of business since October 25. 'You’re the reason,' he said, arms raised to thunderous cheers. 'This is why. This is why we decided to reopen.'