Law enforcement authorities in Maine are within the midst of a sprawling manhunt Thursday for the gunman who killed 18 individuals in separate shootings at a bowling alley and a restaurant within the state’s second-largest metropolis.
An further 13 individuals have been injured within the rampage that police stated suspect Robert Card unleashed Wednesday night in Lewiston.
The suspect’s car was discovered deserted in Lisbon later that night time, simply eight miles southeast of Lewiston.
Mr. Card stays at massive and is taken into account armed and harmful.
Maine State Police are main the investigation, with help from Lewiston police and the FBI and ATF subject places of work in Boston.
“This city did not observe this terrible assault on its citizens, on its peace of mind, on its sense of security,” Gov. Janet Mills stated at a Thursday press convention. “No words can truly, fully measure the grief.”
Mr. Card, 40, is a firearms teacher and a sergeant within the Army Reserve, in keeping with Army information offered to CNN.
He first joined the Army Reserves in 2002 and works as a petroleum provide specialist at a coaching facility in Saco, Maine.
Mr. Card was dedicated to a psychological well being facility for 2 weeks over the summer season the place the suspect had reported “hearing voices and threats to shoot up” the navy base.
It’s unknown what situation prompted him to hunt medical care.
Shelter-in-place orders stay in impact for Lewiston and Lisbon in addition to the close by cities of Auburn and Bowdoin following the mass taking pictures.
A gunman armed with an extended rifle first focused Just In Time Recreation (previously often called Sparetime) bowling alley simply earlier than 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Maine State Police Colonel William Ross stated seven individuals have been killed on the bowling alley, with the victims recognized as one lady and 6 males.
Col. Ross stated that eight extra individuals have been killed at Schemengees Bar and Grille roughly 10 minutes later.
Authorities stated all eight victims have been males, with seven killed contained in the institution and one individual killed exterior.
Police stated that three individuals who suffered gunshot wounds in the course of the carnage later succumbed to their accidents, bringing the loss of life toll as much as 18.
Mr. Card is going through eight counts of homicide for the eight victims police have recognized to date.
Col. Ross stated he expects that quantity to extend because the investigation continues.
Police didn’t disclose the ages of these slain by the gunman in the course of the Thursday morning press convention.
Multiple households and youngsters have been at Just In Time when the carnage broke out.
Ten-year-old Zoey Levesque was grazed by a bullet on the bowling alley as soon as the shooter opened hearth on the patrons.
“I never thought I’d grow up and get a bullet in my leg,” Zoey instructed ABC News on Wednesday night time. ‘Like, why do individuals do that?
“I was more worried about, like, am I going to live? Am I going to make it out of here,” Zoey continued. “Like, what’s going to happen? Are the cops going to come?”
Leroy Walker, whose son runs Schemengees, stated police knowledgeable him on Thursday that his little one was a type of killed within the taking pictures.
The father had a hunch about his son’s destiny when he spoke with NBC Boston previous to getting police affirmation.
‘I know it as well as I know I’m standing right here telling you as a result of he’s not right here and he’s not at some other hospital and he’s not working the streets or he would have referred to as us, as a result of he manages Schemengees, so I do know he was there,’ Mr. Walker instructed the station.
The energetic seek for the shooter has left ripple results all through Maine.
The state’s largest metropolis, Portland — which is sort of 40 miles south of Lewiston — closed its public colleges Thursday whereas the suspect remains to be on the free.
Outdoor items retailer L.L. Bean shut down its headquarters, flagship retailer and factories in Maine in mild of the manhunt as properly.
President Biden stated he gave his administration the greenlight to supply Maine authorities with something they want as police proceed to search for Mr. Card.
He additionally prodded congressional Republicans about serving to move a ban on “assault weapons.”
“I urge Republican lawmakers in Congress to fulfill their duty to protect the American people. Work with us to pass a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to enact universal background checks, to require safe storage of guns, and end immunity from liability for gun manufacturers,” Mr. Biden stated.
“This is the very least we owe every American who will now bear the scars — physical and mental — of this latest attack,” he continued.
• This story is predicated partially on wire service studies.
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