Mainers observe victims’ rights week 6 months after mass shooting [Video]

The annual awareness week highlights the work of victim and witness advocates, and their availability to people in need.

PORTLAND, Maine — By coincidence, the six-month anniversary of the Oct. 25 Lewiston mass shooting fell in the middle of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.

The Department of Justice created the national awareness week in 1981 “to bring greater sensitivity to the needs and rights of victims of crime,” the department’s website reads.

Advocates hosted an event Thursday in Portland. Cumberland County District Attorney Jacqueline Sartoris, Mayor Mark Dion, and Police Chief Mark Dubois joined the gathering at Lincoln Park, flanked by nonprofits tabling and giving information, a small crowd who came to listen, and Suna Shaw and Joanna Stokinger.

Shaw is the victim-witness advocate for Portland police. She also won “Civilian of the Year” for the department in 2023.

After the shootings in Lewiston, Shaw worked with victims and their families, supporting them through Maine’s …