Manhunt on after shooter killed 22 in US
THIS YEAR’S DEADLIEST A man identified as a suspect by police points what appears to be a semiautomatic rifle, in Lewiston, Maine, on Oct. 25. Authorities said Robert Card, a certified firearms instructor and US Army reservist, fired at people upon entering a bowling alley. —Reuters
WASHINGTON—A massive manhunt was under way on Thursday for a gunman who a local official said killed at least 22 people and wounded dozens more in mass shootings in the US state of Maine, the deadliest such incident this year.
Police said Robert Card—seen in CCTV footage pointing a semiautomatic weapon with an extended clip as he walked into a bowling alley in the city of Lewiston—“should be considered armed and dangerous.”
Card is a certified firearms instructor and a member of the US Army Reserve, CNN reported, citing law enforcement sources.
Lewiston City Councilor Robert McCarthy told CNN that law enforcement had “confirmed 22 dead, many, many more injured,” with local media reporting shootings had occurred at multiple locations.
Swathes of the city of Lewiston were locked down, with businesses urged to shutter and people ordered to shelter in place, as the scourge of horrifying gun violence once again ripped through an American community.
Maine public safety official Mike Sauschuck said he was not prepared to give a death toll, calling it “a very fluid situation.”
“We have literally hundreds of police officers working around the state of Maine to investigate this case, to locate Mr. Card,” Sauschuck told reporters.
Multiple locations
Rescue vehicles rushed in from around central Maine to tend to the wounded, McCarthy said, and the two Lewiston hospitals “have called in every off-duty staff member that they could to deal with this.”
President Joe Biden made calls—stepping away from a state dinner honoring Australia’s prime minister—to Maine’s governor, its two senators and a local congressman to offer federal support, the White House said.
Police and rescuers reportedly arrived at the Sparetime Recreation bowling alley at approximately 7:15 p.m. local time in response to an active shooter, and thereafter received reports of another shooting at Schemengees Bar & Grille, according to the Sun Journal local newspaper.
Police issued a number of photographs of 40-year-old Card at the bowling alley, where he appears calm and composed as he moves through the doorway with his rifle raised.
Sauschuck said officers had located a “vehicle of interest” they had been looking for—a white sport-utility vehicle—in Lisbon, a town around 12 kilometers from Lewiston, where residents had also been warned to stay off the streets.
Card was not in the vehicle, reports said.
Law enforcement “are investigating two active shooter events,” the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department wrote on Facebook.
“We are encouraging all businesses to lock down and or close while we investigate. The suspect is still at large.”
CNN reported that at least 50 to 60 people were wounded in the incidents, citing multiple law enforcement sources, but said it was unclear how many of the injuries were the result of gunfire.
‘My hometown’
Maine Congressman Jared Golden wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter that “like all Mainers, I’m horrified by the events in Lewiston tonight. This is my hometown.”
“Right now, all of us are looking to local law enforcement as they gain control of the situation and gather information. Our hearts break for those who are affected,” he said.
The shooting is one of the deadliest since 2017, when a gunman opened fire on a crowded music festival in Las Vegas, killing some 60 people.
Gun violence is alarmingly common in the United States, a country where there are more guns than people and where attempts to clamp down on their spread are always met with stiff resistance.
The United States has recorded over 500 mass shootings this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), a nongovernmental organization that defines a mass shooting as four or more people wounded or killed.
Wednesday’s attack was the deadliest mass shooting in 2023 so far, according to the GVA’s data.
