CRIME
Maine Towns Remain Locked Down As Manhunt Continues For Lewiston Shooting Suspect
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Residents in multiple Maine towns remained sheltered in place for a second night on Thursday as authorities continued searching for 40-year-old Robert Card, who is suspected of killing 18 people and wounding more than a dozen others in Lewiston on Wednesday night.
Lewiston Police responded to two separate shootings Wednesday evening, at Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley where a youth bowling league was underway, and at Schemengees Bar and Grille.
According to Maine State Police, seven people were killed at Sparetime Recreation, and eight people killed at Schemengees Bar and Grille. Three additional people died after being transported to Central Maine Medical Hospital for treatment. Another 13 people were injured in the shootings.
Auburn City Councilor Leroy Walker told reporters that the manager at Schemengees was his son, Joe, who was killed while trying to stop the gunman with a butcher knife.
Lewiston is where I worked for years, its where I met and married my husband, Stan, and its where the girls went to school, Maine Gov. Janet Mills said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
No words can truly or fully measure the grief of Maine people. Our small state, of just 1.3 million, has long been known as one of the safest states in the nation. This attack strikes at the very heart of who we are and the values we hold dear for this precious place we call home, Mills said.
The City of Lewiston issued a shelter-in-place order Wednesday night and said all municipal facilities would be closed Thursday. Businesses were encouraged to close as well. The shelter-in-place order remained in effect overnight Thursday, and schools were closed again Friday.
Police in nearby Lisbon located Card’s white Subaru at the Pejepscot Boat Launch near the Androscoggin River Wednesday night, and Lisbon residents were also ordered to shelter in place. Card’s boat has not been found.
The U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday searched the Kennebec River, which connects to the Androscoggin, but found no sign of Card or his boat.
Maine State Police on Thursday morning expanded the shelter-in-place order to Bowdoin, about 15 miles from Lewiston, where more than 100 investigators, both local and federal were searching for Card.
Thursday night, authorities executed several search warrants in Bowdoin, including a rural property belonging to a relative of Card. But after several hours of searching, there was still no sign of Card.
Authorities said Card is an Army Reserve firearms instructor assigned to a training facility in Saco, Maine, and should be considered armed and dangerous. A police bulletin indicated Card was allegedly committed to a mental facility for two weeks over the summer after he reported hearing voices and made threats to shoot up a military base.
Lewiston is the second-largest city in Maine, with a population of about 37,000. The state doesn’t require permits to carry guns, and background checks are not required for gun sales.
Authorities are asking anyone who sees Card, or anything suspicious, to call 911, and not approach him.
TMX contributed to this article.
