A public prayer vigil is planned for Sunday night around the corner from the scene of the shootings Wednesday in Oakland that left four people dead, including the gunman.
The candlelight vigil is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the boat landing on Old Belgrade Avenue off Messalonskee Lake, a short walk down the street from Wednesday night’s slayings at 41 Belgrade Road.
Amy Derosby, 28, Amanda Bragg, 30, and Michael Muzerolle, 29, were shot to death by Herman Derico, 42, Wednesday night at the two-apartment house they all shared, police said. The victims were found in the first-floor apartment. Bragg and Muzerolle’s daughter, Arrianna, 3, was found unharmed in the apartment by the first police to arrive at the scene.
The Sunday night vigil for “Comfort & Healing and Awareness & Awakening” is being hosted by the Oakland Ministerial Alliance. It’s being organized by local church leaders and officials as a way of helping the community unite in the aftermath of the killings, said Jamie Dickson, pastor of Kingdom Life Church off High Street in Oakland.
Dickson, who described the shootings as “one of the most violent crimes in Oakland’s history,” said he and other organizers also want to draw attention a Go Fund Me page set up in Arrianna’s name, “Help raise Arrianna.” The fundraising page says now that the girl has lost her parents, she will be raised by her grandmother and other relatives who will need assistance.
“We’re going to be thoughtful and mindful of the family, and to unite the community,” Dickson said. “It’s a chance, an opportunity to remember not only the victims but to touch our hearts and embrace each other, to unite together as a community.”
Meanwhile, Maine State Police on Friday continued to work on their investigation into the shooting but said there were no case developments.
Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, said investigators had been scheduled to clear the shooting scene at 41 Belgrade Road by Thursday night, though he wasn’t sure whether any work continued there Friday. There were no apparent signs of police activity at the house Friday morning.
“Work continues (on the investigation) and that work will continue next week as well,” McCausland said Friday afternoon.
Dickson noted the word vigil means “awakened,” so he hopes the gathering is also an opportunity to show newfound unity in the face of tragedy.
A separate vigil that previously had been planned for the same time Sunday night at Head of Falls in Waterville has now been canceled in favor of encouraging people instead to go to the gathering at the Oakland boat landing, said Jibryne Karter, who dated Bragg in high school and was helping to organize the gathering.
Candles will be provided at the Oakland vigil courtesy of Colby College in Waterville, Dickson said. The vigil has been organized in consultation with the victims’ families and with Oakland police, he said.
Police think Derico shot the three victims with a 9 mm handgun, then killed himself outside in the driveway. At a news conference Thursday, McCausland said investigators don’t know why Derico went on the rampage but they were trying to find out.
Autopsies had been scheduled on all four adults, and the results were not immediately available Friday.
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