Kristy Strout’s husband hadn’t been dead four days when she met Press Herald photographer Brianna Soukup. She sat glassy-eyed at her kitchen table talking about the tragedy that, to her, still felt like a dream: Artie Strout, her husband, had been killed in Maine’s deadliest mass shooting. Since then, Brianna has become a fixture in Kristy’s life, and Artie’s dad Arthur’s life, too.
She was there when Arthur’s voice broke performing a song at his son’s funeral, there as Kristy talked her kids through the holidays without their dad, and there when Arthur and Kristy boarded a plane for their first-ever trip to Washington, D.C., where they spoke to legislators about gun control. She was also there when they folded laundry, tried to get some sleep and played pool, a favorite hobby of Artie’s.
The Strouts were generous enough to share their big and small moments over the past 14 months. Their story is about more than grief — it’s about love and resilience in the face of staggering loss. Artie’s family is still learning to live without him. They always will be. This collection of Brianna’s photos is a glimpse into that learning.
Read the Strouts’ story or look back at all of our 2024 Photos of the Year.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Kristy Strout holds her daughter, Brianna Strout, during the “One Lewiston” community vigil at the Basilica of Saint Peter and Paul on Oct. 29, 2023. The vigil took place four days after Kristy’s husband, and Brianna’s father, Arthur “Artie” Strout, 42, was killed along with 17 others in the deadliest mass shooting in the United States that year. Brianna is one of five of Artie’s children.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
A memorial for the victims who were killed and wounded in the mass shooting at Schemengees Bar & Grille on Nov. 1, 2023.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Tyler Barnard wipes tears away as he listens to his father Arthur Barnard play a song at a celebration of life for his brother Arthur “Artie” Strout at Legends Sports Bar & Grill on Nov. 5, 2023.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Arthur Strout’s urn sits in the front of the room with his pool cues at his funeral at Pinette, Dillingham & Lynch Funeral Home on Nov. 5, 2023.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Arthur Barnard checks in on his daughter-in-law Kristy Strout before he takes his grandkids home after a celebration of life for Barnard’s son and Strout’s husband Artie Strout.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Arthur Barnard closes the door to his son’s storage unit after he helped his daughter-in-law and other family members clean out his son’s possessions.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Kristy Strout and Arthur Barnard wait to board their flight to Washington, D.C., at Logan Airport in Boston on Dec.5, 2023. Strout and Barnard were headed to an event for families of victims of gun violence in the nation’s capital. It was the first time either of them flew in an airplane.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Arthur Barnard talks with Po Murray, cofounder and chair of the Newtown Action Alliance, as they walk past the Capitol Building on Dec. 5, 2023. Barnard has become passionate about trying to enact new legislation for gun safety in the wake of his son’s murder. He connected with many activists during his time in D.C.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Kristy Strout and Arthur Barnard, top row right, stand alongside other Lewiston families and a victim during a press conference in Rep. Chellie Pingree’s office in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 7, 2023. The families, survivor and their lawyers spent the morning and early afternoon meeting with the four members of Maine’s Congressional delegation urging them to support an independent investigation into the Lewiston shooting.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Arthur Barnard folds laundry in the kitchen at his home in Topsham while his grandson Leland sits in a high chair next to him on March 13.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Arthur Barnard horses around with his grandson Jacob Edwards, 14, while his granddaughter Lexus Pelletier watches, laughing, in their front yard. Barnard is raising three of his grandchildren.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Kristy Strout says goodbye to her daughter Brianna Strout before Brianna left on a trip with her grandfather, Arthur Barnard. The two were going to Las Vegas where Barnard was going to take the place of his deceased son in a pool league competition.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Summer Palmer, 17, carries her father’s urn from Kristy’s bedroom. Kristy wants to mount a shelf over the family dining table and rest his urn there.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Arthur Barnard plays pool with his league at Legends on the sixth-month anniversary of the Lewiston mass shooting on April 25.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Jessie Merrill is handed a birthday balloon by her daughter Katie Strout during a birthday celebration for what would’ve been Artie Strout’s 43rd birthday.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Arthur Barnard lays in his bed talking to his grandson, Jacob, at their Topsham home. Barnard is the legal guardian of three of his grandkids: Jacob, Emmalee and Lexus. His ex-wife’s cousin, Tracy, also lives with them as well as his son’s ex-girlfriend Christine, and her 2-year-old son, Leland.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Arthur Barnard speaks during a House Democrats press conference in the Hall of Flags at the Maine State House. The event was to highlight the proposed gun safety legislation introduced by legislative Democrats. Barnard has become politically active since his son’s murder.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Arthur Barnard leans down to his grandson Leland as they present him with a cake to celebrate his second birthday.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Tyler Barnard and his son Rowen walk through the memorial set up for the victims of the Lewiston mass shooting in the Schemengees Bar & Grille parking lot on the one year anniversary of the mass shooting.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Kristy Strout wipes tears away as her daughter Summer Palmer tries to comfort her in the parking lot of Schemengees Bar & Grille a year after the mass shooting. Strout had just gone into the building for the first time since her husband was killed. “I wish I wouldn’t have done that,” she said through tears.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Arthur Barnard hugs Brenda Hathaway as they greet each other in the parking lot of Schemengees Bar & Grille on the one year anniversary of the shooting. Brenda lost her husband Maxx Hathaway at the bar. Both Brenda and Arthur were at Schemengees the night of the shooting but left just before it happened. In the year since, Brenda has become close with both Arthur and his son Tyler Barnard.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
A photo of Arthur “Artie” Strout is displayed on the screen while his name is read from the list of 18 victims during a memorial ceremony at The Colisée in Lewiston on the one year anniversary of the shooting.
Photo by Brianna Soukup
Arthur Barnard sits among the crowd of loved ones who lost someone during a memorial ceremony at The Colisée in Lewiston on the one year anniversary of the shooting.
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