Last Updated: October 26, 2023 01:29 PM
Published: October 26, 2023 10:23 AM
At least 18 people were killed in mass shootings at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday night, sparking a massive search for a person of interest who is a trained firearms instructor.
Meanwhile, authorities urged residents to lock themselves in their homes and schools announced closures on Thursday.
Follow our live blog for updates.
WHAT TO KNOW
— Police are searching for a person of interest who is a trained firearms instructor.
— Here’s what we know about the suspect and where the shooting happened.
— The shooting is the 36th mass killing in the United States this year.
What we know so far about the mass shooting suspect in Lewiston, Maine
- Authorities say a U.S. Army Reservist fatally shot at least 18 people at a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday night.
- A warrant is out for the arrest of 40-year-old Robert Card of Bowdoin, Maine.
- Maine State Police Col. William Ross said police have issued a warrant for Card on eight counts of murder. He said those counts will increase when the other 10 victims are identified.
- A U.S. official told The Associated Press that Card had been taken by police for an evaluation after military officials became concerned that he was acting erratically in mid-July.
Pattern of mass killings is unpredictable, but there are some common elements
This database is a collaboration between The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University, and it tracks mass killings in the United States going back to 2006.
Arrest warrant issued for suspect in Maine shooting
An arrest warrant for eight counts of murder has been issued for the suspect in the shootings at a Maine bowling alley and a restaurant, according to state police.
As more victims are identified, the counts against suspect Robert Card will probably grow to 18, Maine State Police Col. William Ross said.
Police responded to a “very fast moving, very dangerous scene,” Ross said, noting that seven people were found dead at the bowling alley and eight at the bar, including one victim who was outside. All had gunshot wounds. Three people who were taken to hospitals also died, Ross said.
Authorities still searching for suspect
Authorities are still searching for the shooting suspect, Robert Card, who is considered armed and dangerous.
Residents in the area have been urged to lock themselves in their homes and schools announced closures Thursday.
Read more about what we know here.
Maine’s governor says 18 people were killed and 13 were injured in shootings in Lewiston
Maine’s governor says 18 people were killed and 13 were injured in shootings in Maine. Gov. Janet Mills made the remarks at a press conference Thursday.
A man shot and killed the victims at a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston and then fled into the night, sparking a massive search by hundreds of officers while frightened residents stayed locked in their homes Thursday under a shelter-in-place advisory.
Mills said the shooting suspect, Robert Card, is considered armed and dangerous, warns people not to approach him.
Maine shooting angers parent of college student
Diana Florence said her son, a sophomore at Bates College in Lewiston, stayed in his dorm with his roommate with the blinds closed.
Her daughter is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which was locked down twice last month, once when a professor was killed and again two weeks later when a man brandished a gun in the student union building.
“I could not believe it — that this is happening again. It’s happening to my son after it just happened to my daughter,” she said in a phone interview Thursday.
Florence, of New York, said she and her son spoke and texted late into the night and he was shaken up but OK. Meanwhile, she was left angry.
“I think this is about our laws, frankly. That we cannot seem to pass any sort of sensible gun laws or attack mental health in the way we should,” she said. “And our kids are paying the price. And even if they’re not killed or injured the trauma that is going to linger long past the semester is palpable.”