Authorities say a man fatally shot at least 18 people at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Me., on Wednesday night. A massive search for the suspect was under way, with Canadian border guards on the lookout in nearby New Brunswick. On Friday Oct. 27, authorities said the suspect was found dead. Here’s what we know about the suspect and where the shooting happened.
What happened and where
Lewiston, population 37,000, is the second-largest city in Maine. On the night of Oct. 25, local restaurant Schemengees Bar and Grille was holding an “industry night” with discounts for customers who work in bars or restaurants. About six kilometres away, families were at Just-In-Time Recreation as part of a children’s bowling league.
Shortly before 7 p.m., gunfire rang out at the bowling alley. One bowler at Just-In-Time, who identified himself only as Brandon, told Associated Press he heard about 10 shots, thinking the first was a balloon popping. “I had my back turned to the door. And as soon as I turned and saw it was not a balloon – he was holding a weapon – I just booked it” and climbed up a bowling machine to hide. Maine state police said seven people died at Just-In-Time, and another three in hospital.
About 10 minutes after the bowling-alley attack, police got reports of more gunfire at Schemengees. Bar manager Joe Walker came at the gunman with a butcher’s knife and was shot twice in the chest, his father, Auburn city councillor Leroy Walker, told NBC News: “He died as a hero.” Police say eight people died at the restaurant before the suspect fled into the night.
A suspect in the Maine shooting points what appears to be a semiautomatic rifle, in Lewiston, Me.Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office via Facebook/Handout via REUTERS
Who is the suspect?
Authorities on Thursday identified Robert Card, 40, as the suspect. Maine State Police said an arrest warrant has been issued for eight counts of murder. Card was found dead on Friday.
Card has been described as a firearms instructor believed to be in the U.S. Army Reserve and assigned to a training facility in Saco, Maine.
A police bulletin document circulated to law enforcement officials said Card had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks in the summer of 2023. It did not provide details about his treatment or condition, but said Card had reported “hearing voices and threats to shoot up” the military base.
Dawn breaks over Lewiston, Me., the morning after the shooting, when residents had been ordered to shelter in place.Robert F. Bukaty/The Associated Press
The manhunt
Authorities launched a massive search for Card on land and water. The Coast Guard sent out a patrol boat Thursday morning along the Kennebec River but after hours of searching, they found nothing out of the ordinary, according to Chief Petty Officer Ryan Smith.
The Canada Border Services Agency has issued an “armed and dangerous” alert to its officers stationed along the Canada-U.S. border, warning them to be on the lookout for Card.
Maine public safety authorities issued an alert on Thursday afternoon extending a shelter-in- place order for Androscoggin County and Northern Sagadahoc County. Maine Emergency Management Agency called on residents to make sure homes and vehicles were secured.
The gun-control debate revived
The Maine shooting is the 36th mass killing in the United States this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. The database includes every mass killing since 2006 from all weapons in which four or more people, excluding the offender, were killed within a 24-hour time frame.
Guns are lightly regulated in Maine, a largely rural state near the northeast border with Canada where about half of all adults live in a household with a gun, according to a 2020 study by RAND Corporation. Maine does not require a permit to buy or carry a gun, and it does not have so-called “red flag” laws seen in some other states that allow law enforcement to temporarily disarm people deemed to be dangerous. However, at least one federal judge has ruled such laws unconstitutional in light of a landmark 2022 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that said that the Constitution grants an individual the right to carry weapons in public.
U.S. President Joe Biden has spoken to state officials to offer federal support and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast until Monday to honor the victims, his office said. In a statement, the President called the shooting a “senseless and tragic” and called for action: “Far too many Americans have now had a family member killed or injured as a result of gun violence. That is not normal, and we cannot accept it.”