US: Maine mass shooting suspect found dead

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Mass shootings in US city

Lewiston Police released an image of a vehicle as part of the manhuntImage source, Lewiston Maine Police Department

Police in the US city of Lewiston, Maine have warned a gunman is on the loose, with reports that at least 16 people have been killed.

Residents of the city, the second-largest in the state, have been told to shelter in place.

Police said they were investigating incidents at "multiple locations" and released photos of a suspect.

The White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation and would continue to receive updates.

There were also multiple but unconfirmed reports of at least 50 people injured.

In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Maine State Police said: "There is an active shooter in Lewiston.

"We ask people to shelter in place. Please stay inside your home with the doors locked."

Lewiston Police said it had responded to two locations, a restaurant called Schemengees, and Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley.

The two locations appear to be about four miles (6.5km), or 10-minute drive, from each other.

The Central Maine Medical Center said it was reacting to a "mass casualty, mass shooter event" and was coordinating with other hospitals in the area to treat the injured.

The Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office released two images of a suspect, saying he was at large and asking for the public's help identifying him.

They showed a bearded man in a brown coat carrying a firearm walking into a building.

Police also shared a photo of a white vehicle, saying its front bumper was believed to be painted black, and asked anybody who recognised it to contact police.

A statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had been briefed and was continuing to monitor the situation.

"DHS is working closely with our federal, state and local partners to support the Lewiston community," it said.

A US justice department statement said that federal agencies were assisting state and local law enforcement.

Lewiston is a town of about 38,000 people located about 35 miles north of Portland, Maine.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67224544

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At least 22 dead and up to 60 injured

A massive manhunt is underway in Maine for an Army reserve firearms instructor who was sectioned this summer for mental health reasons, and is suspected of shooting dead 22 people on Wednesday night at multiple sites in Lewiston

Robert Card, 40, from Bowdoin, Maine, was named by Maine state police as the suspect in the shootings at a bowling alley, restaurant and Walmart distribution center.

Card was armed with an AR 15-style rifle with laser optics when he burst into the bowling alley at 7:15pm to begin his rampage.

Lewiston city administrator confirmed that 22 were dead, local councillor Robert McCarthy said, with 50-60 were injured. Maine's hospitals said they were declaring a mass casualty event.

The three locations were Sparetime bowling alley; Schemengee's bar and grill; and a Walmart distribution center - although a spokesman said that the shooting was not on the site itself.

McCarthy said he had been told that a children's bowling party was taking place at Sparetime at the time.

Justin Juray, an owner of the bowling alley, described the scene as 'total chaos.'

McCarthy said police knew the 'tentative identity' of the gunman. Joe Biden's state dinner with the prime minister of Australia was interrupted to inform the president.

A photo issued by sheriffs showed a white man with an AR-15-style rifle and a laser optic entering the Sparetime recreation center, wearing black combat trousers and a brown top. His face is clearly visible. The neighboring city of Auburn has also been placed on lockdown.

Police in Lewiston have also issued a photo of the white station wagon they are seeking, saying it could have a black-painted bumper.

'There is an active shooter situation in the city of Lewiston,' said Maine state police.

'Law enforcement is asking people to shelter in place. Please stay inside your home with the doors locked.'

The local hospital said at 9pm they could not confirm casualties.

'Central Maine Healthcare is coordinating with area hospitals to take in patients,' the hospital said.

Police audio said the two locations were Schemengee's bar and grill, and Sparetime recreation center. The two sites are around four miles apart, in Maine's second-largest city.

Police were then called to a third location, a Walmart distribution center, said Derrick St. Laurent, a Lewiston spokesman.

St. Laurent told the Sun Journal that the first call, to Sparetime, came at around 7:16pm.

Police were then called to Schemengee's, and after that, at about 8:15pm, the Walmart site.

Joe Pennington, a Walmart spokesman, said: 'This shooting did not occur on Walmart property.'

McCarthy told CNN: 'My understanding is that they have a tentative identification.

'They have set up the National Guard center as a triage center.

'The hospitals have called up all off-duty staff. Our hospitals are not geared to cope with this, but they are doing the best they can.

'We are blessed with the best police in the state, and I am sure they are doing all they can.'

McCarthy said his own home was near the bowling alley, and they were barricaded inside with their guns.

'The bowling alley is in a business park,' he said.

'There were two restaurants next door, and a lot of patrons ran there.

'The other bar is way across town, on the outskirts of the city.

'There are also reports that the doors were shot out at the Walmart distribution center.'

Asked about efforts to identify the gunman, McCarthy said: 'They have a picture of a vehicle they believe he was in, and they have some unique characteristics - the front bumper is black. I'm told they have the plate number. I'm told they are looking for him hard.'

Footage shared on social media showed police racing to the scene in the town of 36,000 people, 35 miles north of Portland and 35 miles south of the capital, Augusta.

The city of Auburn, just across the Androscoggin River, has also warned residents to remain indoors.

'**ALERT: There is an active shooter incident in progress in the City of Lewiston,' they wrote on X.

'ALL Auburn & Lewiston residents are strongly urged to shelter in place, lock all doors & report suspicious individuals and activities to 9-1-1.

'Most businesses in the area have closed/are closing.**'

Bates College, a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, is on lockdown, according to The New York Times.

Dozens of students are sheltering on the top floor of the college library, crouched down among the books and scrolling through social media for updates.

People are seen running from the scene of a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine

Police in Lewiston, Maine are seen rushing to reports of two shootings - one at a bar, one at a bowling alley

Janet Mills, the governor of Maine, said in a statement she was aware of the shootings and had been briefed.

'I urge all people in the area to follow the direction of State and local enforcement,' Mills said in the statement.

'I will to continue to monitor the situation and remain in close contact with public safety officials.'

Maine has a fairly high level of gun ownership, and relatively lax laws: Roughly half of its households have them, according to research cited by Maine public radio last year.

But unlike many states with such a large supply, it sees relatively few fatal shootings each year: 89 percent of gun deaths are suicide, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.

'There's no large cities in Maine,' said Representative Chellie Pingree, a Democrat.

'So this isn't like being in Dallas or New York City. It's a very tight-knit community in spite of the fact that it's a city, and I'm just sure there's just an enormous number of grieving families.'

Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, tweeted his condolences, and expressed his anger at the shooting.

'Devastating news out of Maine. A mass shooting. Multiple locations. At least 16 dead, 50 injured, and thousands of lives forever changed,' he wrote on X.

'We don't have to live like this, and we definitely don't have to die like this.'

On Monday, the superintendent of Lewiston Public Schools, Jake Langlais, wrote to parents to inform them that he had been made aware of threats to the school - but they had determined the person making the threats was 10 years old, and lived in the midwest.

'The individual responsible for the message that was threatening to LHS last night has been identified,' wrote Langlais, in a letter obtained by News Center Maine.

'Law enforcement has made contact and the situation has been taken care of.'

He said that school would operate as normal on Monday.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... Maine.html

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Loud bangs heard at house

Loud bangs were heard at a home connected to Maine mass shooter Robert Card on Thursday evening, with the FBI encircling the property and demanding anyone inside come out

The road to the rural home was blocked and police using megaphones said: 'FBI - open the door. FBI - come out now.'

Card, 40, has been on the run since murdering 18 people on Wednesday night in Lewiston, 15 miles from his Bowdoin home. His abandoned car has been found seven miles from Lewiston, near the town of Lisbon, with his gun inside, NBC News reported.

It emerged on Thursday he may have been searching for his ex at the bowling alley and bar where he opened fire.

At 5pm, police activity was centered on the Bowdoin home.

A little over an hour later, at 6.18pm, a convoy of eight Maine state police and FBI vehicles moved swiftly along the narrow road by the property in the dark, and left the area.

A series of four loud bangs were heard on Thursday evening near this Bowdoin, Maine home connected to Robert Card

Maine mass shooter Robert Card left a note at his home which police have now found. Its contents have not been disclosed, but it is said to be steering the hunt for the killer

These included a SWAT team armored vehicle and several black Chevrolet Suburban SUVs.

Shannon Moss, a spokesman for Maine state police, said that the activity at the Bowdoin property was 'part of the investigation', and said no gunshots were fired.

'Law enforcement is at a home in Bowdoin as part of the investigation into the Lewiston shootings and the search for Robert Card,' she said.

'When it's appropriate to do so additional information will be released.'

She added: 'It's a tactical operation.'

His sister told law enforcement officials the 40-year-old Army reserve firearms instructor could have targeted Schemengees Bar and Grille and Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston in the hope of finding her, ABC reported.

Court documents show his ex-wife filed for divorce in 2007 and they were granted joint custody of their child - though it's unclear whether she is his most recent ex.

Card is still on the run and considered armed and dangerous after he carried out the year's deadliest shooting at around 7pm on Wednesday. It's feared he may have fled on a boat he owns.

Opening fire with an AR-15-style rifle, he killed at least 18 people while injuring 13 more before fleeing. As the multi-agency search for the armed fugitive enters its 22nd hour, cops have also uncovered a cryptic note at his Bowdoin home.

Four law enforcement sources told NBC New York that police are poring over the meaning of the letter, though the contents or date of writing have not been disclosed.

Officials were seen wheeling a victim in a body bag out of Schemengees the next morning as police combed the area for Card, who is charged with multiple murder counts.

The death toll could climb as many victims remain in critical conditions at area hospitals.

It comes after his sister-in-law Katie Card revealed that he heard voices at the bowling alley and bar where he went on to launch his deadly attack, and had been struggling with 'an acute episode of mental health'.

His relatives have been frantically texting him, pleading with him to surrender to police.

'I have known Rob my whole life,' his sister-in-law Katie Card told the Daily Beast on Thursday.

'He is quiet but the most loving, hardworking, and kind person that I know. But in the past year, he had an acute episode of mental health, and it's been a struggle.'

She added that Card told his family that he could hear voices criticizing him while he was in the bar and bowling alley.

'He truly believed he was hearing people say things,' she added. 'This all just happened within the last few months.'

The search for Card has entered its 22nd hour as authorities comb vast swaths of woodland in Maine - and he may even have crossed into Massachusetts or escaped by boat

Suspected Maine shooter Robert Card (pictured) heard voices before he launched the deadly attack which killed at least 18 people, according to his sister-in-law

Card's former army colleague Clifford Steeves said he never witnessed any concerning behavior from him during the decade they served together.

'He was a very nice guy — very quiet,' Steeves, of Massachusetts, told CNN.

'He never overused his authority or was mean or rude to other soldiers. It's really upsetting.'

Steeves said they served in Wisconsin, Georgia and New York, and he feels like he has 'grown up' with Card because they did their army training together as young men.

He added that while 'aggressive leadership was very prominent' in the Army, Card was known for being a 'rational, understanding person' who 'led through respect rather than fear'.

Steeves said Card was 'an outdoors type of guy' who had been through thorough firearms and land navigation training, so he would have little problem hiding out in woodland areas. He added that Card was one of the best shooters in their unit.

Card is from Bowdoin, and his car was found abandoned in Lisbon shortly after the shooting.

The incident has left at least 18 people dead and 13 more injured, meaning it is believed to be the deadliest mass shooting of 2023. It also marks the 34th mass killing involving more than four victims in the US this year.

Investigators are desperately searching for Card, who fled the scene on Wednesday night, and his car was found in the town of Lisbon.

Audio from police dispatchers suggested that he may have crossed the border to Massachusetts, but Massachusetts State Police have said that claim is unsubstantiated.

Card has been charged with multiple murder counts after the bloody massacre at Schemengees Bar and Grille and Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, around 7pm on Wednesday

A distraught Maine councilor has said he knows his son is among the dead - though authorities are yet to confirm - while a 10-year-old girl has spoken about being grazed by a stray bullet.

Leroy Walker, whose son managed Schemengees, said he is convinced his son is dead.

'If you had my gut right now, I feel like I'm squashed with a vice,' the Auburn councilor told NBC. 'My neck in the back of my head feels like there's a vice squashing it the other way.'

'And I don't know, telling you the truth, what kind of night this is going to be from now until tomorrow when I wake up to the true facts that my son is dead - and I know he's dead.

'I know it as well as I know I'm standing here telling you because he's not here and he's not at any other hospital and he's not running the streets or he would have called us, because he manages Schemengees, so I know he was there.'

Meanwhile, 10-year-old Zoey questioned 'why do people do this' as she sat beside her mother the morning after they survived the shocking attack at the bowling alley as their city remains on lockdown.

'I never thought I'd grow up and get a bullet in my leg,' Zoey told CNN. 'Like, why do people do this?

'I was more worried about, like, am I going to live and I going to make it out of here. Like, what's going to happen? Are the cops going to come?'

A distraught Maine councilor has said he knows his son is among the dead - though authorities are yet to confirm - while a 10-year-old girl has spoken about being grazed by a stray bullet

Card used an AR-15-style rifle to open fire inside the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley at about 7pm Wednesday before targeting Schemengees Bar and Grille around four miles away

Mom Meghan Hutchinson said her daughter was 'grazed by a bullet' amid the terrifying rampage.

'She was grazed by a bullet while we were running,' Hutchinson told ABC.

'We were in the back room. Another child came in whose arm had a massive - was bleeding profusely.

'So we barricaded in there and another parent was in the room with me. She had a phone and she called 911.'

Another Lewiston mom, Riley Dumont, was in the bowling alley with her daughter, and her parents, including her retired police officer father who leapt into action and saved several people's lives.

'I heard a really loud bang. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but my dad looked at me,' Dumont told ABC.

'Next thing I know, he was just taking the group that we were in and just corralling us in the corner,' she said.

'He put tables over us and just made sure we were safe. He just kind of went into action at that point. It felt like it lasted forever.'

'I kind of laid on top of (my daughter), and my mom was kind of on top of me. We had two other kids with us and two other mothers as well.'

Justin Karcher, 23, is on a ventilator in ICU after the shooting, according to his mother Jessica Karcher.

Doctors have to 'keep resuscitating him' following emergency surgery, she told the Washington Post. 'He's not out of the woods.'

She added that Justin witnessed his father being gunned down in a Walmart parking lot in July 2019.

'His father passed away in front of him,' Karcher said. 'My head is pounding,' she added. 'I just called the hospital for an update. And of course, they don't have one.'

Relatives of the 40-year-old Army reserve firearms instructor have also been frantically texting him pleading with him to surrender. Meanwhile, officials have been photographed moving a victim in a body bag from one of the crime scenes

Maine Police Colonel William G. Ross said that seven of the victims were found at the Just-In-Time bowling alley: one female and six males, all suffering apparent gunshot wounds.

Another eight victims were found at Schemengees Bar and Grille: seven males were discovered inside and one outside, all also with apparent bullet wounds.

Many more people were rushed to area hospitals, where some were pronounced dead.

The shooter used an AR-15-style rifle to open fire inside the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley at about 7pm Wednesday before targeting Schemengees Bar and Grille around four miles away.

Lewiston, a small city of about 38,000, is on lockdown as police hunt for Card who was sectioned this summer with mental health issues. He previously reported hearing voices and threatened to shoot up his National Guard base in Saco, Maine.

'Please stay inside your homes while more than 100 investigators, both local and federal work to locate Robert Card who is a person of interest in the Lewiston shootings,' Maine State police said on Facebook.

Lisbon Chief of police Ryan McGee has called the entire police department to assist in the search and closed local businesses.

A heavy police presence is outside the Central Maine Medical Center on Thursday morning, with police standing at every entrance with high powered rifles. The hospital is under lock down and no visitors are allowed.

The FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and other federal agents have joined the search.

Detectives said they are looking into cellphone signals, social media and electronic records to build a timeline of his movements before the shooting.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... ooter.html

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Manhunt for shooter continues

The manhunt for a US Army reservist suspected of murdering 18 people and injuring others in a mass shooting in Maine has entered its second day

Police say Robert Card is armed and dangerous and are asking people to shelter inside their homes for safety.

On Thursday night, police converged on a home in Bowdoin, around a 20 minute drive from Lewiston where the shooting happened the night earlier.

Police said they were executing several search warrants.

Loud bangs were heard at the scene, and police yelling for him to surrender.

Over a megaphone, FBI agents and local law enforcement were heard telling the suspect to come out of the house "with your hands up". But after a few hours, police departed the scene.

But it is unclear what prompted the search, and a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety said officers were "simply doing their due diligence by tracking down every lead in an effort to locate and apprehend Card".

The shooting began at a bowling alley in the small town of Lewiston just before 19:00 local time (23:00 GMT), the police colonel said. One woman and six men were killed there.

Within about 10 minutes, gunfire was reported at a nearby restaurant, Schemengees Bar & Grille, where eight more men were fatally shot.

Lewiston and three nearby towns remain under a shelter in place notice. Schools as well as most local businesses have closed and many will remain so on Friday.

Beyond a few dog walkers, most people appeared to have stayed at home on Thursday. Police are posted on the streets.

The only bustles of activity are near the two shooting sites and the Central Maine Medical Center.

Dr John Alexander, the chief medical officer there, called the attack "unprecedented" for the small city. He said about 50 medical providers, nurses, respiratory therapists and surgeons answered the call to help treat the victims.

Maine State Police said the suspect had recently reported mental health issues, including "hearing voices and threats to shoot up a military installation in southern Maine".

He had reportedly been admitted to a mental health treatment facility in the summer, after behaving erratically during training at the US Military Academy.

Police denied earlier reports that he was a firearms instructor, saying there was "no indication he attended advanced weaponry courses".

Maine's Governor Janet Mills, a former Lewiston resident, called it a "dark day" for her state and pledged "to seek full justice for the victims and their families".

The FBI and other federal US law enforcement agencies are aiding local and state police in the manhunt. Neighbouring states are also providing resources and remaining vigilant, as the suspect could have travelled across state lines.

Canadian border officials have also been warned to be on alert for the suspect.

Maine has the lowest homicide rate of any state in the US. One of the state's most famous authors, horror writer Stephen King, said the shooting occurred near his home.

"This is madness in the name of freedom," he posted on X, formerly Twitter, also calling for new gun safety laws to regulate assault rifles.

In a Facebook post, Schemengees Bar & Grille wrote: "In a split second your world gets turned upside down for no good reason. We lost great people in this community. How can we make any sense of this."

Just-In-Time Recreation, where the attack first began, posted online: "None of this seems real, but unfortunately it is... There are no words to fix this or make it better."

President Joe Biden ordered flags at the White House and other federal buildings to be lowered to half-mast as a mark of respect for those who died.

He also called on Republican lawmakers in Congress to pass gun safety legislation.

"This is the very least we owe every American who will now bear the scars – physical and mental – of this latest attack," he said.

Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Maine Senator Susan Collins called for a ban on high-capacity magazines.

"Our hearts are heavy with grief," she told reporters. "This heinous attack, which has robbed the lives of at least 18 Mainers and injured so many more is the worst mass shooting that the state of Maine has ever experienced and could ever imagine."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67232966

NOTE: In US this year

There have been 131 mass shootings

And 35,275 people have died from gun violence

More than 111,000 people died from drug overdoses in 12 months

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Shooting suspect found dead

A man suspected of killing 18 people in a shooting in Maine has been found dead after a three-day manhunt, police say

Robert Card, 40, was found dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, Maine Commissioner of Public Safety Michael Sauschuck said.

The news comes hours after police lifted a stay-at-home order for the normally quiet community.

Among the dead are a grandfather, a talented young bowler, and four deaf locals, ranging in age from 14 to 76.

"The suspect in Wednesday night's shootings has been located and is deceased," the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook.

At a news conference at Lewiston City Hall, Maine Governor Janet Mills said the body was found in Lisbon, near where the shooting occurred.

"I'm breathing a sigh of relief tonight knowing that Robert Card will not be a threat to anyone," she said.

Gov Mills said the discovery of the suspect's body would set the community on "the long and difficult road to healing".

Lewiston Police Chief David St Pierre added that he was "elated" by the news, but "our work is not done here".

Governor Janet Mills announced the suspected gunman's body had been found

"We're gonna grieve for the families that lost loved ones, were gonna continue to work, we're gonna persevere and we're gonna become better people for it," he continued.

Commissioner Sauschuck said the body was found at 19:45 local time (23:45 GMT) on Friday near a river in Lisbon Falls.

He said many of the details were being withheld because authorities wanted to speak to the victims' families first.

Maine Senator Susan Collins said the state now "can breathe a collective sigh of relief thanks to the brave first responders who worked night and day to find this killer".

She added that President Joe Biden had called her earlier on Friday to tell her that the suspect had died.

In a statement, Mr Biden said it had been "a tragic two days - not just for Lewiston, Maine, but for our entire country".

"Once again, an American community and American families have been devastated by gun violence," he said.

He called upon Republicans in Congress "to fulfil their obligation to keep the American people safe" by pushing for tighter gun controls.

"Until that day comes, I will continue to do everything in my power to end this gun violence epidemic," he added.

The suspect's sister-in-law had told NBC that the family was "doing everything we can to help law enforcement".

"Our hearts are broken," said Katie Card, who is married to the gunman's brother.

The attack happened on Wednesday night at a local bar and a bowling alley in the small town of Lewiston.

Police responded to reports of shooting at two locations, a restaurant called Schemengees, and Just-In-Time Recreation, a bowling alley, which are about four miles (6.5km) apart.

Seven people were killed at the bowling alley, eight at Schemengees Bar and Grille, and three were pronounced dead at local hospitals.

On Friday night, before the news that Card had been found, members of the local deaf community, who were deeply affected by the tragedy, gathered over Zoom for a virtual vigil.

Nearly 100 deaf and hard of hearing people from across the country joined.

"There are no words or signs to express what we are all experiencing," said moderator Terry Morrell, opening the event.

"We lost four beloved deaf people", he said, with two other deaf people injured.

"We are all grieving, we are all in shock, we're angry, we're numb," he said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67247726