10-year-old Zoey Levesque and her mother Meghan Hutchinson survived the Lewiston Maine mass shooting

Zoey Levesque, a 10-year-old, was participating in a practice session with her youth bowling league on Wednesday night when she became a survivor of the latest mass shooting in the United States.

Authorities believe that the incident, which occurred in Lewiston, Maine, resulted in at least 18 fatalities and 13 injuries, taking place across various locations, including the bowling alley where Zoey was practicing and a local bar.

Zoey shared with Channel3 NOW that she is still in a state of shock following the shooting. She, along with her mother, Meghan Hutchinson, managed to survive by securing themselves in a back room of the bowling alley.

“I never imagined growing up and having to deal with a bullet wound,” Zoey expressed. “It’s just… why? Why would someone do this? I’m at a loss for words.”

She went on, emphasizing, “These are people with families, and they’re young, with so much life ahead of them. No one should come in and do something like that. It’s just not right.” Zoey and her mother recounted how they were fleeing from the suspected shooter when a bullet grazed Zoey’s leg.

She recalled, “There was a hole in my pants, but when I checked, it wasn’t deep. It was more of a scrape. I was scared, but it didn’t really hurt. I didn’t even realize what had happened until I started bleeding.

Zoey shared that her primary concern was her survival, so she kept running. “I wasn’t really focused on that,” she explained, referring to her injury. “I was more concerned about, you know, making it out of there alive.

What’s going to happen? Will the police arrive?” Hutchinson recounted to Channel3 NOW that she heard a sudden loud noise and then spotted the suspected gunman just as he entered the bowling alley.

The individual of interest in the shooting, Robert Card, remains at large and has been evading authorities for hours, as per law enforcement.

When I turned around, I saw the shooter right behind me,” recounted Hutchinson. “He had just entered through the door.” Hutchinson described how she, Zoey, and other families swiftly navigated through swinging doors between the lanes, eventually barricading themselves in a back room for approximately 20 minutes.

She added, “While we were in the back room, another child came in with a severe injury on his arm, bleeding heavily.” Hutchinson continued, “We secured the area, and another parent was with me in the room. She had a phone and called 911. The kids took cover under a desk while I worked to shift a shelf against the door for added security.

When the police arrived, Hutchinson explained that she and others were too frightened to allow them into the room. “They were pounding on the door, but we hesitated to open it. We were uncertain about their identity, and we couldn’t verify who it was,” she recounted.

“Eventually, they pushed their way in and escorted us out to the parking lot.” Much like her daughter, Hutchinson conveyed that she is still grappling with shock from the harrowing experience. “It all feels incredibly surreal. It’s a moment, a sensation, that I hope to never experience again,” she shared. “It’s profoundly saddening… This was perhaps the most agonizing night of our lives.”