LEWISTON — At 7 p.m. Friday night, some 300 children should have been collecting their backpacks at the third annual Family Fun Day held at Mike McGraw Park — instead, they ran from gunfire.

According to police on Friday night, a group of youths approached the nearby Masjidu Salaam Mosque on Bartlett Street just before 7 p.m. and fired off shots in the air. A short time later, shots were fired in area of Horton and Pine streets.

Luckily, none were injured — apart from one asthma attack — as the crowd ran from the gunfire, police said.

Family Fun Day, a back-to-school event, is meant to bring together parents and children for food, games and activities ahead of a mass giveaway, equipping students for the next school year, said Rilwan Osman, director of Maine Immigrant & Refugee Services.

The event was a collaboration between five organizations and 20 volunteers including MEIRS, Generational Noor and Lewiston Auburn Youth Network, Osman said.

“We’re disappointed that this joyful evening was disrupted, especially with so many families present,” Osman said. “Thankfully, no one was injured and no one who was attending our event was involved.”

Hannah Conkin of Maine Immigrant & Refugee Services cleans Mike McGraw Park on Saturday morning in Lewiston. Conkin was at the annual Family Fun Day on Friday evening at the park and was about to hand out back-to-school supplies and backpacks when a juvenile shot a gun nearby, which abruptly stopped the event with over 300 people in attendance. Conkin says MEIRS still has the backpacks that they would like to give them to out to kids before school starts. Officials say the juvenile that fired the gun was not involved with Family Fun Day. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

After a string of violent incidents this summer, including the death of local 17-year-old, Sahal Muridi, several area organizations have partnered for community discussions on gun violence.

LA Youth Network had a forum scheduled for Saturday morning at Connors Elementary School but it was canceled out of caution after the Friday night shootings just two minutes down the street.

Iman Osman, director of LA Youth Network, said his organization tries to improve communication, build trust, and provide safety, education and resources to children and their families. The forum Saturday was to focus on gun violence and safety, and would have provided a space for community members, parents, teachers and police to share their concerns.

Iman Osman, founder of Lewiston Auburn Youth Network, canceled Saturday’s community discussion on gun violence following two shootings Friday night in Lewiston, which involved juveniles using firearms. “Kids are getting access to illegal guns and parents are not aware of it,” Osman says, adding that a 9-year-old called him after the shooting crying, telling him he did not want to live like this anymore. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

The forum will be held at a future date, Osman said. Organizers are “waiting until the dust settles.”

Police and event organizers suspect the perpetrators were known to some at the event.

Lewiston police Lt. Derrick St. Laurent said officers arrived to the first scene within seconds with several 911 calls coming in after officers arrived. Despite the arrival and the apprehension of three juveniles, police still don’t have a lot to work with. At the heart of it, it’s a communitywide issue, St. Laurent said.

“So, we need cooperation,” he said. “Most of these shootings are being perpetrated by young adults and kids. We need the parents to step up, too.”

“It’s not the first time, and I don’t think it’s going to be the last time,” Iman Osman said. “Because those kids are still looking for each other. It’s something we live with every day.”

Iman Osman said children among the violence refuse to talk to police most likely out of fear of retaliation. One of the main problems is figuring out how guns are reaching the hands of children. He said many, if not all, parents are unaware their children even have guns. Most seem to treat firearms like toys, he said.

“Some of these children are only 13. Some of them are only 10. Some of them are 9-year-olds getting access to guns,” Iman Osman said. “They think it’s just a toy, they don’t know that it’s going to take your life away. It’s like they’re just doing it for fun. They just don’t understand the seriousness.”

Osman said his organization and others, through efforts to educate the community about gun violence and safety, are trying to impress upon children and their parents that communicating with police will aid the safety of their neighborhoods. “The police don’t know what to do and they don’t know who to hold accountable.”

St. Laurent said police plan to meet with local legislators next week to discuss and air their concerns about the increase in the area’s gun violence. Since responding to the shootings, police have further increased foot and cruiser patrols, he said.

“We just want to be there for our community, for our kids, for our fellow residents,” Iman Osman said. “We just want to help out in any way we can. We feel the problem with them. We stand with them as well.”