Maine shooting: ASL interpreter who signed at press conferences lost colleague in shooting

Maine‘s deaf community is shaken from the loss of four members in Wednesday evening’s mass shooting in Lewiston that left 18 dead and 13 injured.

Regan Thibodeau has been working as a sign language interpreter in media briefings held by Maine authorities about the situation. Thibodeau lost a longtime colleague, Joshua Seal, in the shooting.

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Seal, along with Steve Vozzella, Brian MacFarlane, and Billy Brackett, was participating in the cornhole tournament for the deaf on Wednesday.

“We will miss him. I will miss him,” Thibodeau told Maine Public through interpreter Stacey Bsullak. “He was a wonderful colleague. I was so proud to work with him in so many different areas of my life.”

Thibodeau and Seal both provided interpreting services during the pandemic, working to deliver COVID-19 updates by the Maine CDC and Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME). Thibodeau is pictured below, standing to Mills’s left during a Thursday press conference.

Matt Rourke/AP

Dr. Nirav Shah, the Principal Deputy Director of the CDC, expressed condolences after learning Seal was among those killed. Shah and Seal worked together during the COVID-19 pandemic to deliver news conferences alongside Mills.

“I marveled at his ability to interpret what we were saying at light speed—even my (awful) attempts at humor during dark days,” Shah wrote on X. “He never missed a beat. He will be forever missed and always remembered as part of Maine’s history. Rest in peace, Josh.”

Seal was also the Director of Interpreting Services at a nonprofit organization, the Pine Tree Society.

“Joshua was committed to breaking the cycle of isolation and creating safe space for Deaf people,” the Pine Tree Society wrote on Saturday. “We are committed to continuing his vision. Our entire team honors his memory as we mourn his loss.”

Seal, 35, was a father of four deaf children and husband to Elizabeth Seal. Elizabeth is the president of the parent-led nonprofit organization Maine Hands & Voices.

His wife, who could not be reached immediately by the Washington Examiner, posted Saturday on Facebook, “Another day without Joshua Seal, but now that the shooter has been found, the day is looking brighter. We can begin the process of healing. Josh’s light is shining on us.”

Thibodeau translated the daily press conferences from the Maine Department of Public Safety. On Saturday morning, Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck requested the media include Thibodeau in the frame of their videos so the deaf community had representation and access to the information.

She provided Maine Public with the reasoning behind her participation in the new conferences.

“Their friends and family are deaf; their families are deaf. They use American Sign Language,” she said. “All they want is equity in communication access. It is really important to have (ASL) on the screen at the same time that everyone is getting the information.”

Multiple members were participating in a weekly cornhole tournament at Schemengees Bar and Grille Restaurant when a shooting erupted, leaving eight dead at the bar and another seven dead at Just-in-Time Recreation bowling alley a few miles away.

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The suspected gunman, Robert Card, was found dead Friday evening. Maine officials confirmed Saturday his body was discovered by state police in a trailer at the Maine Recycling Corporation in Lisbon.

“It is a tragic, tragic loss for our community,” Thibodeau said per Maine Public. “Many deaf people are impacted by this event. All over America. This is the first time in history that we have lost that many deaf people at once in a mass shooting.”