TOLEDO, Ohio — Authorities in Maine on Friday found the man suspected of killing 18 people in a mass shooting dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.
The aftermath of the violence and the intensive two-day search that followed have been felt in Maine and across the U.S., including in Toledo.
Jug's Bowling Center has a rich history in the Glass City. General manager Steve Jakuvowski said the shooting, which happened at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, Maine, hit close to home.
"There's a lot of activity in here, a lot of movement and a lot of people," Jakuvowski said of Jug's. "It gets pretty crowded in here, so, it wouldn't be a good situation."
He has been at the bowling alley, on Jackman Road in west Toledo, for 44 years.
"Loyal customers and good families and they bring good people in," Jakuvowski said. "We keep the place well-lit up and hopefully we never have to encounter anything like that."
Aileen Starkey has been a longtime patron at Jug's and looks forward to bowling every Friday, but said the Maine shooting caused her concern.
"To worry about things like that is horrible," she said.
Four of the shooting victims were deaf, and Starkey, who is deaf in her left and has limited hearing in her right ear, noted gunshots may not be heard by people who are deaf and hard of hearing.
"I'm sure they didn't know what was coming, they weren't able to react," she said. "I rely on my husband to be my ears a lot of times."
Patrick Young, another customer at Jug's on Friday, said mass shootings in the U.S. have happened at a variety of locations, so he always tries to be aware of his surroundings.
"Bowling alley or not, we see it in malls, we see it in schools," he said. "It could happen anywhere at any time. You never know."