'Breakdown' Episode 5: 'We're still here'

The FRONTLINE Dispatch

GBH

News

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 December 2024

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The FRONTLINE Dispatch presents: Breakdown (from Maine Public Radio, The Portland Press Herald, and FRONTLINE).

Four members of Maine's deaf community died in Lewiston in October 2023 in what is believed to be the deadliest mass shooting of deaf people in the U.S. The pain of that loss was magnified by the barriers to communication and information deaf survivors and loved ones faced in the immediate aftermath.

Episode 5 examines the outsize impact of the Lewiston shooting on those who are deaf and hard of hearing, how the community often feels forgotten and why the tragedy has become a catalyst for equity.

To hear the rest of the series, subscribe to Breakdown: Turning Anguish Into Action on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or stay tuned for more episodes on The FRONTLINE Dispatch.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The Frontline Dispatch is made possible by the Abrams Foundation,
0:03.7	committed to excellence in journalism,
0:05.7	and by the Frontline Journalism Fund,
0:08.0	with major support from John and Joanne Hegeler.
0:11.0	All of a sudden, I heard this noise, and it was so loud,
0:15.3	it was like, it felt like this big glass chandelier had broke.
0:21.9	Some people who survived the deadliest mass shooting in Maine's history recall the moment they knew
0:27.6	something was wrong by what they heard.
0:30.5	All we heard was pop pop to start.
0:33.3	And everyone kind of looked kind of like, oh, did balloons pop?
0:35.8	Was her birthday party in the back room?
0:38.3	And then we heard the pop, pop, and scream.
0:44.7	But others that night also remember a different sensation.
0:50.0	I felt the vibrations in the bar.
0:55.5	The glasses at the bar shattered.
0:59.2	And I was confused.
1:02.0	Kyle Curtis is deaf.
1:03.8	He's telling his story to an independent commission investigating the shooting.
1:08.1	Like nearly all of the deaf people in this episode, his words are voiced by female interpreter.
1:13.6	Curtis was one of nine deaf men who were playing in a weekly cornhole league at Schmengi's Bar and Grill in Lewiston on October 25,
1:21.6	23.
1:22.6	I saw the bullets coming out of the gun. I could see the flashes in the muzzle,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from GBH, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of GBH and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.