From News Nation:
“At least 22 dead in Maine shooting, dozens injured; manhunt
underway”
(In this image taken from video released by the Androscoggin
County Sheriff’s Office, an unidentified gunman points a gun while entering
Sparetime Recreation in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Maine
State Police ordered residents in the state’s second-largest city to shelter in
place Wednesday night as the suspect remains at large.)
A manhunt is underway Wednesday night after a suspect opened
fire at a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston, Maine, killing at least 22
people, injuring dozens more and sending the state’s second-largest city into
chaos. The Lewiston Police Department said it is looking for 40-year-old Robert
Card as a person of interest and warned he should be considered armed and
dangerous. Maine State Police is expected to provide an update on the shooting
and subsequent manhunt at 10:30 a.m. ET Thursday, NewsNation has learned.
Authorities ordered residents and business owners to stay
inside and off the streets. Lewiston police said in an earlier Facebook post
that they were dealing with an active shooter incident at Schemengees Bar and
Grille and Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley about four miles away. The
Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office released two photos on its Facebook page
that showed a gunman walking into an establishment with a weapon raised to his
shoulder. NewsNation has confirmed 22 people are dead and another 50-60 are
wounded. “Please stay off the roads to allow emergency responders access to the
hospitals,” police said.
On its website, Central Maine Medical Center said staff were
“reacting to a mass casualty, mass shooter event” and were coordinating with
area hospitals to take in patients. As of 2 a.m. ET, the page displaying the
message appears to have been taken down. According to information from Maine
State Police’s Maine Information and Analysis Center (MIAC), Card was trained
as a firearms instructor at a U.S. Army Reserve training facility in the state.
He recently reported mental health issues including hearing voices and
threatened to shoot up the military training facility, according to the Maine
State Police bulletin. He was also reported to have been committed to a mental
health facility for two weeks during the summer of 2023.
Michael Sauschuck, commissioner of the Maine Department of
Public Safety, said in a news conference Wednesday night that initial calls of
a shooting came in just before 7 p.m. ET. During the search after the
shootings, police located a vehicle in nearby Lisbon, Sauschuck said. The Sun
Journal, a local newspaper in Lewiston, reported the vehicle police believe
Card was driving, a white Subaru Outback, was found near a Lisbon boat dock.
The alert for Lewiston was made shortly after 8 p.m. as the
sheriff’s office reported that law enforcement agencies were investigating “two
active shooter events.” Officials issued an update around 10 p.m. on their
search. “Avoid the area until authorities give the all-clear,” the statement
said. “Seek alternative routes to circumvent the area and any disruptions. If
already operating in the affected region, adhere to all instructions issued by
local officials, including the shelter-in-place order.” “We are encouraging all
businesses to lock down and or close while we investigate,” the sheriff’s
office reported. Events and early voting at City Hall have also been cancelled.
Lewiston Public Schools district said in a statement on
Facebook it canceled classes for Thursday. “Stay close to your loved ones.
Embrace them. Our prayers go out to those who lost someone tonight. Our prayers
go out to all those working to stop further loss of life. We will provide
updates,” the school district said. Several
nearby schools and districts, including Central Maine Community College and
Bates College, announced they’d be closed on Thursday. Bates College remains on lockdown. “We realize
that there are students who were not in their residence hall as we went into
lockdown, and employees who are on campus and unable to return home. If you are
in that situation and you have a specific emergency medical need please contact
Campus Safety at 207-786-6254 with your current location and your need,” Bates
College emergency management said.
The nearby city of Auburn also issued a shelter-in-place
order, as did the town of Lisbon. “Stay safe. don’t jump to conclusions,”
Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque said on Facebook. “This is an all-hands-on-deck
situation. You can train for this, but you can never be completely prepared,”
he later told reporters from WGME-TV outside at a reunification center at
Auburn Middle School. “We’re gonna heal our community, we’re gonna persevere,
we’re gonna get through this. It will take a while … but we have a really
strong community. We’ve overcome a lot, and we’ll overcome this.”
One woman who sheltered in place told NewsNation that family
friends were hurt in the shooting. A spokesperson for Maine Department of
Public Safety urged residents to stay in their homes with their doors locked. “Law
enforcement is currently investigating at two locations right now,” Shannon
Moss said. “Again, please stay off the streets and allow law enforcement to
diffuse the situation.”
Gov. Janet Mills released a statement echoing those
instructions. She said she has been briefed on the situation and will remain in
close contact with public safety officials. Maine Sen. Angus King, an
independent, said he was “deeply sad for the city of Lewiston and all those
worried about their family, friends and neighbors” and was monitoring the
situation. King’s office said the senator would be headed directly home to Maine
once the Senate’s final vote is held Thursday afternoon. The White House said
in a statement the president has been briefed on the situation. The Justice
Department also said Attorney General Merrick Garland was briefed and that
federal law enforcement agencies are assisting.
Schemengees Bar and Grille released a statement early
Thursday morning. “My heart is crushed. I am at a loss for words. In a split
second your world gets turn upside down for no good reason. We loss great
people in this community. How can we make any sense of this. Sending out
prayers to everyone,” the bar posted on their Facebook page.
^ This is extremely sad to hear. I hope they catch the
Shooter. ^
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